They're all Animals
by Nittedhat
Summary: A new take on the story of Little Red Riding Hood. If only she had stayed on the road.
1. Chapter 1

There once was a girl called Little Red Riding Hood. With blond hair, blue eyes, a button nose and a full mouth, she was a beauty. The body full, with soft curves and pale skin. She lived in the forest with her mother, a lonely woman, who's lover had abandoned her and left her bitter and resenting of everything. So she warned her daughter, of men and the horrors they spread around them.  
>"Watch out Riding Hood."<br>She told her in a low, husky voice, sprung out of years of turning to the bottle for comfort;  
>"Men are predators. They are animals. They will do anything to get their filthy hands on you and ruin everything sweet about you. Trust me I know. I know."<br>At which point Riding Hood would have to put her mother to bed, kiss her on the forehead and listen to her cursing between hiccups until the cottage was quiet again.  
>So the girl lived in the forest, and never spoke to anyone other than her mother, and her mother's mother who lived just down the road. This left her innocent, as one would figure, but it also made her curious. Where men really animals? Would they try to ruin her if she met them? Dangerous thoughts for a young girl to be having, but they came as sure as October-rain.<p>

One day, Riding Hood's Grandmother took ill. Worried about her mother, but not able to leave the house out of fear for the dangerous men, Riding Hood's mother gave her a basket of sweets and treats to bring her Grandmother.  
>"Be careful my love. And don't stray of the road!"<br>Her mother warned her, hugging her little girl and then sending her off, watching from the doorway with spotted red eyes and a slight shivering of hand, as the young woman disappeared into the deps of the forest.

The Forest was as warm as ever. It was a late summers day, and Red, as she liked to call herself, pulled down the hood of her cape to look around. The sweet smell of late blooming flowers filled her like a perfume, and she closed her eyes, the pace of her step dropping slightly until she stood completely still. The leafs rustled over her head, just a slight tremor from the wind to make them sound like a whispering woman. She could almost hear her mother…  
>"They are animals."<br>Animals… This sounded ridiculous to Red. How could they be? Or, well, how could they ALL be? There must be some good men out there. Right?

Right?

From behind a tree He stood, watching her. Watching the skirt slide up her milky white thigh each time she took a step. Those round soft breasts jiggling when she walked, begging for some sort of restraint, from his hand, his mouth… A low growl escaped him as she looked around and he could see a flash of her golden hair and blue eyes. The mouth was perky, soft, just enough for him to feel a twitch underneath the ragged, torn apart, pathetic pieces of fabric he called trousers.  
>"Mine…"<br>He wasn't even aware of the snarl. It came as so natural to him. He had forgotten what it felt like to be human, so it wasn't strange that when he saw a woman he desired, his instincts told him to claim what was his. But not yet. The forest forbade him, and you did NOT go against the forest's very strict rules. He had to wait until she crossed the lines. But the bloody girl stayed on the road…

Red looked around, and frowned a little. It was nice and all to go to Grandmothers with treats to make her feel better, but she needed something else. Something nicer to make it all better. By the side of the she could see the trees parting a little. A field spread out beyond them, covered in light blue Forget-Me-Not's, Poppies, Lavender, Lilies, just about everything that made her dizzy with its heavy scent. The road before her layed out like a river. Safe. All-knowing. Going to a place she knew. The field… The field was strange waters. Dangerous. Monsters lured in those waters. But before she knew it, she had made her way through the trees, and to the field.

His heart skipped a beat. She had done it. The stupid girl had done it, left the road, and gone into his territory. As everything living in the forest would know, she was now up for grabs. And he was certainly not letting it go.

A bright blue flower caught her eye, and a smile made the corners of her mouth twitch. It had the same colour as the midday sky, so she bent down, and stretched out her slender hand to pick it up.  
>The next thing she knew, someone was pinning her to the ground. For a couple of moments she thought she had fallen into the fragrant flowers, but someone was on top of her. Panting. Every hair on her arms and neck stood right up as she felt a hot, wet tongue slither its way down to her ear. An equally hot breath following it made her squeal, and she was sure she heard laughter.<br>"Don't you know you're never supposed to leave the road? There are beasts in these woods…"  
>Her heart sunk. Filling her stomach with ice, and turning her breath into uncontrolled little yelps.<br>"And there seems to be one lying on top of me too! Get of me or I'll kick you so hard in the balls your mum will feel it!"  
>The Wolf, for it was a wolf, made a noise that both reminded her of a laugh and the growls she had heard by night while walking home alone in the woods. She should have stayed on the road…<br>Suddenly she was turned around, fiercly laid down on her back. Disoriented she tried to catch a glimpse of her predator, but he pressed his head against her neck, and all she could see and feel was thick, ragged, golden fur. Her arms where pinned to the ground, moving them was as hard as if it had been stone, not the wolf's hands. And then… The rough tongue made its way down her neck, to her cleavage. It swirled down between her breasts, making every untouched piece of skin jump and turn to fire. As the wolf pulled down her blouse with his teeth, all Red could think of was her mother's words.  
>"Animals. They are animals."<br>Then the rough tongue started rubbing her the hard nub on the mound of her breast, and she forgot all about her mother. Pleasure that she had never known of started rolling in waves through her entire body, as she shook like a ship lost at sea a soft cry escaped her throat. The wolf snarled, opening his terrifying jaws and biting down on the milky white mound of flesh, not hard enough to hurt, just enough to make her pant harder and feel the ice-cold fantastic chill of his teeth pressing against your flesh.  
>"My my, what big tits you have…"<br>The growl came from the very amused wolf.  
>"Oh well, all the better to squeeze I suppose.."<br>He listened to the young woman moan under him, and loved how the milky flesh turned rosy with excitement. It made him hard, so hard it almost burned. A warm hand slid down her thigh, pulling up her dress as she answered, still panting hard.  
>"My what big hands you have…"<br>"All the better to touch you with…"  
>Laughing softly, for he had to admit the girl had a sense of humor, he rose a little, biting down on her neck. The panting grew harder, and he felt an almost painful twitch from his pants. He wanted more… He wanted to hear the girl moan, he wanted her to shout, he wanted to feel that tight girl clamp down on him as he had the hardest orgasm in a… The Wolf stopped. Without realizing it, he had started rubbing his crotch against the ground. This was new to him. Usually he was much quicker than this. Much more organized. It frustrated him, not being in control. His jaws pressed a little harder against her neck, drawing blood without breaking skin, and she twitched hard under him, moaning hard.<br>"My, what a big mouth you have…"  
>The Wolf pulled away, and now she could see his face. It was the face of an oversized wolf, a beast, but still.. Handsome. Like she could see some human in those big, blue eyes. Without knowing why, without even trying to stop herself, she lifted up her head, and kissed him. It wasn't a hard kiss, a passionate kiss, it was just a trying, soft, curious kiss. Wolf stiffened as if he had a hunters gun down his neck. For a couple of moments he had nowhere to turn, nowhere to run.<br>He kissed her back. Softly, as well as he could with flesheating teeth in the way, letting her soft, smooth tongue meet his rough and undefined one.

For how long they lay there, kissing, he had no idea. When he looked down on her again, her eyes where sparkling, and she was smiling. Smiling like she was looking at a man, and not a stray wolf. He had let go of her hands long ago, and she stroke his cheek in a gentle way that almost made him brush up against her like a common house-dog.  
>Enough. He grinned at her last comment, and slid up her dress, parted her thighs.<br>"Oh please. Don't make me say it."  
>His head disappeared out of sight, and for a few seconds, Red thought he was going to leave. In the next she started shouting. The wolf was eating her. His big, rough tongue sweeping and rubbing against her clit, going as far into her as he possible could, licking up every drop of juice he could get his mouth on. To Red, it was an explosion. His fantastic tongue, the wilderness, the forest, everything made her pleasure rise to platforms she didn't know where there, and every time she thought she had reached the highest one, he surprised her by swiveling his tongue over her clit and making her cry out again. It felt like fire, hot, boiling fire between her thighs and he was feeding it with his glowing mouth.<p>

It was like eating a Goddess. Every lap of his tongue filled his mouth with more nectar, and he drank as eagerly as if he had been thirsty for weeks. Wolfing down on her, he grasped her sweet round buttocks and pulled her close, lifting her a couple of inches of the ground to come even closer. His nose shivered, as taken with the scent of her womanly juices as she had been with the flowers. It wasn't enough. Each time she cried out, banged her fists in the ground, gripped her own hair and sobbed in surprised pleasure, he got more of the ambrosia and still it wasn't enough. It wasn't usually like this. He had always enjoyed it, it was a pleasant part of ravishing women, but just a part. He stopped after a while, and just took them. But now… He wanted to bring her to the edge. He wanted t feel it happening around his mouth, feeling her grip his fur and… What was happening to him?

Red couldn't breathe. Every single one of her breathes was caught in her throat as she looked down on the Big Bad Wolf eating away at her. Hotflashes rose and sunk within her, making her cheeks boil redder than the poppies and eyes blank.  
>"Please… Please… I… I need something…!"<br>Licking away at her, the wolf looked up, and gave her what she needed, all while watching her with his blue eyes. His long tongue found its way into her, rubbing her innards and making her sigh in a low, vibrating moan. But then. He started rubbing his wet nose against her clit, at the same time as his tongue rolled around inside her. It was too much. A pain grasped him, a delicious, wonderful pain, as she nearly scalped him while grasping the fur at the top of his head, and pulling him into herself. He could hear it happening, she could not. Red had thrown herself down into the flowers, and screamed while her stomach made hard knots, again and again, until she imploded around his tongue. To his surprised and sudden pleasure, Wolf had to restrain himself from soiling his trousers with cum when he felt it. Her whole body shivered, and around his tongue the muscles cramped, sucking him inwards, filling his mouth with enough nectar just to swallow and swallow. So hard it hurt, he shut his eyes, and enjoyed it.

When it was all over, when she had finally come down from that mountain-top of new pleasure, she looked at him. Rosy red cheeks, lips slightly parted, her hair a golden mess under her. With a trembling hand she stroke away a couple of drops of juice from his cheek, and smiled at him. A pair of big, blue, confused eyes met her, and she smiled broader. Lifting her head up, shivering a little, she placed a soft kiss on his wet nose. The wolf didn't know what to do to himself. The beast in his pants called for him to finish it, to rip up her dress and take her, she was nice and ready wasn't she? But something… Something held him back. That kiss. That damned kiss. Red said nothing. She just looked at him, and smiled. Before he was even aware of it, he had gotten up, and pulled up her blouse at the same time.  
>"You should get going. The woods are dangerous."<br>Red couldn't believe her ears. Wasn't he going to… Wasn't he a horrible beast that was going to make her carry his child and carry her to his lair?  
>"I'm…"<br>"Are you thick-headed? Get BACK on the road!"  
>Those lips that had smiled at him so broadly a moment ago lost their glittering shine. They turned sad. The big blue eyes turned frightened. And it hurt him. It hurt him in a way he didn't know eyes could hurt. From inside the forest he heard the soft steps of someone moving closer.<br>_When the Alpha-dog is done, the others get their turn._  
>Wolf stepped closer to her now, showing his teeth.<br>"Fuck of you stupid little twat!"  
>The blue eyes started filling up to the brim with tears. She gripped her skirt, pulled it down over her trembling legs, and stood up. Waiting, swaying a little, she stood looking at him, looking like she was both about to slap him, kick him in the chest, and cry. Then she stormed off. Wolf closed his eyes, and put his hands to his chest. It was aching. Perhaps she had kicked him. She'd just done it really fast.<p>

Red stormed in tears down the road. Her Grandmother's house was still an hour away, and she couldn't really walk. Every step reminded her of him, of his smell, of his big, blue eyes. Angry she wiped away her tears. He wasn't worth it. Above her the trees rustled in the wind, sounding like an old bitter woman warning her daughter.  
>"Animals. They're all animals."<p>

_**To be continued.**_


	2. Chapter 2

Wolf stood still, waiting. Every fibre of his body felt as though it had been touched with some sort of magic wand, like that one the ridiculous fairy that lived further in the woods had. His ears were prickling, twitching to capture as much of the sound around him as possible. Trying to figure out if there was more than one. But as the steps got closer, he realized there could be only one, and a that one he knew. The footsteps stopped suddenly behind him, but he didn't have to turn around to know what was waiting there.  
><em>Damn it<em>.  
>"Spectacular Duncan. No really, that was one of the most <em>shit <em>performances I've seen in… Well at least a decade."  
>Grinding his teeth together, Duncan slowly turned around to meet the amused gaze of his best friend. He was one of those wolfs that made the story-books. Standing on two legs, wearing a loincloth and nothing else, the muscular wolf stood leaning against a maple tree. Even in that relaxed position, his arms still had a tendency to show of themselves, swelling with muscles under the mahogany coloured fur. His eyes, hazel, where glittering with surpressed laughter as he watched Duncan, grinning.<br>"Funny Astro."  
>The howling laughter of his best friend Astro, short for Astrolite, nearly made his ears split into two.<br>"Oh come on mate! You had her right there, milky legs parted, dripping snatch open, moaning like there was no tomorrow, ready to be-"  
>Astro made some grunting noises while humping the air in a way that made Duncan's stomach turn.<br>"You know, and then just… Bam! You let her go! _Get out of the forest, it's dangerous!"  
><em>His voice rose to a comedic pitch, wavering like an old woman on the high notes. Duncan felt his innards making a run for his throat, and swallowed to keep them down.  
>"I heard you coming. I figured it was someone else, better to let her run of than having to share."<br>"Oh please."  
>The hazel eyes spun around toward the sky.<br>"We've shared since you learned that your cock was good for something else than pissing."  
>This was true. The Tribe had never been very keen on property as such, if you hadn't gone through the Ceremony of The Entwinement you were pretty much up for grabs. If you wanted to be of course. If a wolf tried to force him- or herself on another, the Tribe had nothing but disgust left for them, and of you didn't leave on your own, there was always someone willing to drag you out. And then no one could answer for how intact your throat was going to be.<br>"Well I didn't realize it was you. It might as well have been Clompus or something."  
>Clompus was one of the dumbest, biggest boys in the tribe. His broad shoulders and massive under bite made him look like a bear had fornicated with some sort of bulldog, and where ever he walked his grunting made the un-expecting passer jump out of his fur. The very idea of sharing a woman, or anything at all for that matter, with Clompus made most men in the tribe shiver. What made it all worse was that his Father was the Alpha-Male of the Tribe, wich made Clompus think he could have pretty much anything he desired. Being the size that he was, most women did not want to be desired by him.<br>The mention of him made Astro snort with laughter, and Duncans bowels simmered down again. They were alright. Astro strolled up to him, and crossed his arms over his broad chest, making the muscles flex a little. In the corner of his mouth, Duncan felt a grin wanting to come to life. He stopped it. Astro gave out a great sigh, and did a gesture as to say 'what the hell'.  
>"What is it with this girl anyway? Why'd you want her all to yourself?"<br>Duncan gave out a small, barking laugh. What was with that girl? He couldn't explain it. That God Damn kiss. Astro looked at him, rolled his eyes, and sat down into the soft grass with its colorful, mindblowing flowers.  
>"So tell me. How'd this happen?"<br>And Duncan told him.

Meanwhile, Red had walked through the forest, and arrived at her Grandmothers. The little cottage lay just beside the road, close enough so that the animals of the forest had no access to it. The woodsmen went over there every once in a while to see that nothing happened to it, or the old lady that resided there. The mere sight of the cottage made Red smile.  
>It had a rundown look that old cottages often had. Years of relentless winters, howling storms, harsh sun and hard rain had made the wood slowly crack, giving it a soft brown colour that was soothing to the eye. The window stood slightly ajar, and from within came the low humming of an elderly woman. Around the cottage grew flowers that she had helped her Grandmother put there. The little flowerbeds seemed to tell Red about her childhood. The tulips was her early childhood. She'd needed something big, something she wouldn't lose or spill all over herself if she tripped. So they started with tulips, and even now she could almost remember it. The sun had been hot, almost burning. Even though it had been September, she could remember that the weather somehow hadn't gotten the message, and continued with bringing them hot summerweather. Too hot for tulips her mother said. But Red's Grandmother would not be persuaded.<br>"You set your tulips in September, you're a fool for listening to the weather Beata."  
>To his her mother had answered by returning to the glass of brown liquid in front of her.<br>Red looked at the tulips, and her eye went one and looked at the Forget-me-Not's, with their clear blue colour, the intense-red poppies. She remembered those too, planted on the day she had gotten her first period. It had made her so embarrassed when her mother had rushed over, with her daughter in trail, to tell Grandmother of the apparently "big moment". Red only wanted to lay down. It had been spring. The trees hadn't gotten their buds all stretched out yet, she remember because the rain kept falling in them without the leafs to stop them. When they arrived, her Grandmother had watched both her mother, flushing and happily chattering on about her daughter's entrance into womanhood, and her granddaughter, looking as if the entire cottage could fall down on her without her caring. Watching them closely over the brim of her silver-glasses, she had nodded slowely.  
>"Come out to the garden girls. We're going to plant some flowers."<br>It had stopped raining. The soil was moist. When Red stuck her nose down towards it the air was filled with the heavy scent of earth, so intense it made her a little dizzy.  
>"Poppies and Forget-Me-Nots."<br>Her Grandmother had stuck the little fabric-bags filled with small seeds in her hand. While planting them, Red dared ask one question.  
>"Why these?"<br>"You'll know."  
>And when she saw the Poppies, bright red, tall, proud, next to the fantastic and blue Forget-Me-Nots, then it made more sense than she wanted to explain to herself.<br>And next to them, the roses. Red stood still, watching them. Next to the exploding poppies they're shade of red was darker. Deeper. The Poppies were sunset, growth, exploding colour. The roses where made of blood.

"Heavy."  
>The deep sigh from his best friend seemed to pretty much sum up the situation for him. Around them, the twilight had softly crept up on them, turning the sky into a deep pink. Astro's dark eyes where fixed up on it, his brow slightly crooked into a frown that Duncan knew well. It was the same face he had when he tried to figure out how to attack a prey, the same consideration, the same complexity that had always made Duncan admire him as a hunter. They had been at each other's sides ever since they were cubs, trained together, fought together and because of that established the kind of intense friendship only men thought only they had, and women knew they could have too, but kept quiet about not to hurt their pride.<br>"Am I crazy?"  
>His question made Astro chuckle, and gave him a snarling grin that gave Duncan some sort of hot-flash.<br>"No. You're naïve, and stupid, but not crazy."  
>Duncan's fur stood up at the back of his neck, and both ears smoothed down towards his forehead, the wolf way of blushing. It was true. He was stupid, and he knew it. Just the fact that he was aware of this could make you think that he would do something about it, but alas, stupid as he was, he did not.<br>"So it was the kiss yeah? That did it in?"  
>Duncan shook his head and put it in his hands, sighed. He didn't know what it was. It was just strange. He should've done it. Should've shagged that silly little girl's brains out, and walked away. But he hadn't. Instead he had pushed her out of the forest. All because of that kiss.<br>"Yes. The kiss."  
>It was one of those things just wolfs did. Women, and men, moaned and writhed under them, cried out, even sobbed. But they never kissed. And she had done it like it was totally natural. Like it should be like that. Pointy teeth, big rough tongue against those soft small lips and soft tongue, and it had been natural. Sighing deeply again, with a small growl escaping his throat he hid his head in the palm of his hands.<br>"I'm fucked aren't I?"  
>"Pretty much."<br>"The Woodsmen are going to have my head over this aren't they?"  
>"You better believe your small hairy ass they are." <p>

The Woodsmen where not simple lumberjacks, as other stories of wolfs and small girls have told us. They where the keepers of the Woods. Their headquarters was located deep inside the forest. Nobody knew exactly where it was. Those who knew didn't want to tell, and most just didn't come back. Riding through the woods on huge horses, the men could put fear in anyone who put his foot in the forest day or night. They we're all of different sizes and ages, mostly male. Wolf hated the very sight of them. Every other month the tribe we're visited by a couple of woodsmen, raiding through their homes to "make sure everything was going according to the rules". Not all of them were corrupt, but enough so that they had started sending their women into the woods when they heard them coming. They all wore long coats, with broad gold bands around the edges. On their chest was their badge, in shining gold. Three branches of a tree making a triangle, guarding a rose in their midst. Below them, inprinted.  
>"Omnem causam habet media."<br>He had learnt this roughly translated to  
>"Every cause has its means."<br>And for the cause of teaching some of the Forest inhabitants not to step out of their boundaries, there sure where means. They we're not allowed to be with humans. Usually, most of the times, he got away with it because his lovers had enjoyed it so much. But that girl… He didn't even know her name. He had hurt her, her eyes had been tearing up. She would go to the woodsmen. And they we're indeed going to have his small hairy ass on a platter this time.

A chill down her spine reminded her of where she was. The dark roses swayed in front of her, blinking she looked up from them, and met a pair of pale blue eyes, peering into hers from the small window directly in front of her. Heart nearly leaping out of her chest, it took her one or two seconds to realize that it was her Grandmother leaning out of the window in front of her, one eyebrow crooked and a sniggering deep in her throat.  
>"Jumpy?"<br>There were deserts less dry than Reds mouth. She swallowed roughly, and cleared her throat, some pieces of sand and cactus sticking to the roof of her mouth. Her Grandmothers voice was huskier than usual, but she had probably just had a bad night, it happened to everyone.  
>"Yeah, just a bit."<br>The blue eyes of her Grandmother kept on looking at her, making Red feel more naked than she had felt out on the field. Oh God. Don't think about the field. Her cheeks turned a brighter red than the poppies, and she tried to cover it up by smiling.  
>"I… I… Was just looking at the…"<br>The gray eyebrow took an incredible leap up her grandmothers fine hairline, and Red sighed.  
>"I'm sorry I'm late."<br>"Get in here."  
>Red steered away from the roses, and stepped in to the little cottage. The sudden smells that hit her was like stepping back in time. It had always looked like this, and as she let her gaze sweep over its interior, she was happy about it. Some things weren't supposed to change.<br>It was a small cottage, only one room. In the lower right corner there was a little sofa that was made into a bed at night, filled with lacy, flowery patterned pillows, small stuffed animals that had once belonged to Red, and a big quilt her grandmother had made out of her old babyclothes. The dinner table in front of it, with stains and burns, pieces of runny candles after late night conversations that dragged on until the flames put out themselves. A little stove in the upperright corner, where she had cooked many meals, many cookies that had made Red blush with excitement. The fireplace in the lower left corner, in front of them the huge chair were her Grandmother sat knitting, or sewing, or just simply talking to her those late evenings when the world stopped turning, with Grandmother in the chair, and Red resting against her lap, sitting on a pillow on the floor. Red had fallen asleep there on numerous occasions, and her Grandmother just let her. The small cottage smelled of spices and herbs, sweet flowers and the sharp smell of cinnamon, a scent she had always put by itself in her mind. It was one of those things she just didn't know where to put. There was something else there too. Something she couldn't quite, but it reminded her of something.  
>Her Grandmother came up to her, and took her hands, and suddenly she was pulled away from her thoughts. Looking at the elderly woman, she saw her with both the eyes of a child and an adult. She saw the familiar wrinkles around the eyes, the white hair that had never ever changed styles, the kind eyes that were as blue as her own. But she also saw the pain in her slightly cramped-together hands, the way she walked slower than before, how the old back was bent over. Red felt a sudden urge to put her down in the chair, make her sit down, just to ease the pain she could sense seeping through her Grandmothers pores. But there was something different about her. She usually embraced her pain and did something about it, or sat down. She didn't force herself to stand, and she certainly didn't look at Red with the gaze of a starving animal. What was that damn smell…<br>Every drop of blood suddenly went out of Reds veins, leaving behind them an ice cold liquid that made her head sting like thousands of needles.  
>"Nana, maybe you should sit down, you don't look to well.."<br>Nana opened her mouth, showing two rows of pointy, yellowy teeth that definitely hadn't been there before. Feeling the despair build up in her stomach, Red tried to move towards the door. No such luck, the hands that had grasped her were holding on way to tight. She could feel the bones inside her fingers starting to give up small squeaking sounds, and sharp pain shot through her hands.  
>"Please, please…"<br>She couldn't help whimpering as whatever that thing was that had taken the shape of her grandmother towered over her. Its skin started cracking up, like dry mud, blood seeping out between the small gapes. She had heard a sound like that before, it was the sound of burning wood, snapping and crackling. Small spatters of blood landed on her face, spraying it with ever so fine drops, as the creature kept on growing in front of her. The hands she had known her whole where hot, burning, as if they had caught fire. The next second she could hear the fingernails snapping of as new fingers outgrew the skin.  
>"Oh God…"<br>What happened next was to terrifying for her to comprehend. She looked up at her Grandmothers face, filled with bloody cracks. A large grin had spread across her face, and split her lip in a number of places to make room for all the teeth that shot out of her skull. The skin covering her nose just hung limply over the grin, as if the bone had retracted. But above it. Oh Dear God above it.  
>The blue eyes were popping of their sockets. Bulging out, looking like someone tried to press two hardboiled eggs through a key hole. The next moment, they burst. The juices dripped down Reds face, slowly, like someone had decided to make an omelet on her face. Through the now empty holes where the eyes had sat, stared a pair of pitchblack eyes, through the ripped, torn up face of her grandmother. The sound of the eyes bursting rang through her ears. They had made the same sound as stepping on grapes.<br>She screamed.

"But maybe I shouldn't worry? Maybe she won't tell the Woodsmen on me? I mean she WAS pretty much enjoying all of it?"  
>Duncan looked at his best mate, who slowly nodded, looking up at the first stars starting to pop up at the sky, glimmering down at them. Astro then shrugged a little, and lay down, stretching in the tall grass.<br>"Maybe you shouldn't. From what I heard, she was enjoying herself rather hard. But then again who wouldn't."  
>Grinning a little, he wiggled his eyebrows at him, making Duncans ears lay flat against his forehead again.<br>"Yeah, I probably shouldn't-"  
>He was interrupted by the sound of hoofs furiously making their way through the forest, ripping up the soil beneath them. Both wolfs sprang up from the field, looked at each other, and then starting making their way back to the trees, disappearing for the night.<br>"You were saying?"  
>Astro laughed under his breath, and became one with the shadows amongst the trees. But Duncan stopped. His ears twitching, tail tingling, entire body stiff with… Something.<br>"Come on then! Let's go!"  
>Hearing the call, but not responding, he stood still, swaying a little. Unable to decide. It was probably nothing. And if it was something, that something was probably him and he would be running into a trap.<br>And yet…  
>"Fuck me, I must be out of me mind…"<br>He ran.

Red was staring up at the monster that had shed her Grandmothers skin. It grinned wider, and a foul stench of death hit her in the face, making her stomach roll around hard. That was the smell. That was the smell that she had felt walking in to the cottage. Death.  
>The hands, claws more accurately, started pulling her closer, those enormous jaws opened up, ready to swallow her whole. She bent backwards, bending her whole body away from the terrifying pit of death in front of her. But she knew she couldn't get away. This was it. She was going to die here, in the jaws of a horrible monster. At least it was in a place she loved. At least she had met a wolf. At least she had understood the meaning of the roses. She closed her eyes, and awaited death.<br>Two bangs, one louder than the other, threw her back into life. Eyes still closed she felt something hot and warm go "splosh" all over her face, and the grip on her hands slacking. Shivering, she stood still, hearing a great big thud, feeling the floor shake. Frightened, she didn't move an inch. Had that been her? Those bangs, had that been the jaws closing? The hot wet things, had that been her face been turned to mush? That bang, had that been her body hitting the floor? A soft, drawling voice came from behind her.  
>"You can open your eyes now miss."<br>And she did. Red slowly opened her eyes, and saw the creature spread out on the floor in front of her. Its head had been blown off by some fantastic force, it lay sprawled before her in a weird parody of a puppet missing its master. Breathing heavily she stared at the remains of her Grandmothers skin, and looked around. Everything was as it usually was. She noticed no difference. Except…  
>The Sofa-bed. There was an odd stain under it, she hadn't noticed before. Slowly, slowly she walked up to it. The smell of death was even stronger than before, seeping up through the lid. With trembling fingers she reached out. Did she really want to see this? She knew what awaited her. It could be nothing else. No she didn't want to see this.<br>She needed to.  
>A small glance was all she needed. Quickly she turned around, covering her eyes, screaming mindlessly again. Someone embraced her, picked her up, and carried her outside. She could smell leather, and horse in the jacket, against her cheek hard cold metal. But she just kept on screaming.<br>The fucker had stuffed her Grandmothers skinless remains inside her pots and pans.  
>Eventually the screaming stopped, and ebbed out into a soft sobbing. The arms that carried her put her down next to the water barrel. Red looked down at herself, and almost started screaming again. Above her, the sky was slowly turning darker, and darker, but still there was enough light for her to be able to see her own face. Her hair was a sticky mess with blood and… Pieces of eye. Her face consisted of deep-red paint, and two large, white globes sticking out of them. She looked exactly as her… Grandmother had, minus the enormous teeth. And beside her…<br>"Here, let me miss."  
>She glanced up at her savior, and felt a small kick in the stomach. It was a Woodsman. The badge on his chest glimmered softly, a reflection catching her eye, forcing her to blink again. He was handsome. Dear God was he handsome. He had blond hair, swept up into a ponytail, put a few curls had escaped and lay soft around his face, framing his clear, green eyes, the strong jaw, thin lips curled up into a soft smile. Gallantly he removed his leather gloves, and scooped some water into his hands.<br>"I'll hold back your hair."  
>Red couldn't even thank him. There were no words, and she was afraid that if she tried to say anything it would come out as processed food. The Woodsman started to wash her face and hair, very carefully, while talking.<br>"We got a report that your Grandmother hadn't been down in the towns as she usually was. This wouldn't have alarmed us, hadn't it been for the fact that you received a letter from her that she couldn't have sent, since she didn't come into the post office. I'm awfully sorry that we looked through your mail miss, but it's our job to protect the people residing here. So I was sent to follow you to here, just to make sure. As we can see, it was good I did. I came in just as it was about to eat you miss. You're lucky I've never missed a target with my pistol my entire life. Are you all clean?"  
>Red looked up at him. The water dripped down her face and neck, and she nodded slowly.<br>"Yes. Thank you."  
>"Just doing my job miss. Let's get you home."<br>As he led her to his horse, that stood eating out of her Grandmothers flowerbed, he had just finished with the poppies, Red looked up at him. He met her gaze, and smiled.  
>"Don't you worry, it's all over now."<br>He put her on the back of the horse, and positioned himself behind her. As the horse started moving beneath her, a big mountain of muscle beneath her, she felt the Woodsman put his hand on her hip.

Panting, Duncan stopped. He had run half the way to the cottage when a cramp hit his side like a hot rod of steel, forcing him to stop. Clutching a tree, he hang limply, staring out on the road.  
>"You really are… Fucking stupid.."<br>He whispered it to himself, trying to catch his breath again, the air wheezing in and out of his lungs, his mouth tasting like old coins.  
>"Running… After a Woodsman… Because of a… Little… Tarty…"<br>He couldn't even bare to finish the sentence. Resting his head against the rough bark, he whimpered.  
>"Fucking kiss…"<br>Slowly he turned back.

The Forest gave out its soft sounds around her. Owls howled around her, the leafs rustled in the wind making their soft whispering sound. She could hear her mother in them.  
>"<em>Don't trust a man dear.<em>"_  
><em>The hand that had once rested on her hip was now softly traveling up her thigh, caressing it the same way the Wolf had caressed it earlier. Only this time it made her skin crawl with unease. The horse kept on walking beneath her, not knowing, or perhaps just not caring, about what his master did. Red closed her eyes as his hand made its way up under her skirt.  
>"Please don't."<br>She hadn't even been aware of the words wanting to come out. Or well, they had been resting on her tongue since the cottage, but she had had no intention of letting them out. She felt him bend forward, putting his lips to her ear. His hot breath made her feel like heaving.  
>"I saved you miss. From what I've learned, heroes get rewarded for their actions. And besides…"<br>The leather on his gloves against her panties now, moving the fabric, one finger starting to push its way up inside her. She could feel the seam on them. It was rough.  
>"If you're willing to catch fleas from that stray dog, I don't think you'll mind being painted a little white."<br>A hot flash of rage overwhelmed her. Hit her so hard in the stomach that she could feel herself go out of breath, without a single trace of coherent thought she turned around, attempting to hit him in the face. She shouldn't have.  
>White hot pain exploded in her face. Her nose felt like lightning had struck it, and a second bolt of it surged through her back. It took her a second or two to realize that she had fallen of the horse, on to the ground, and that he had broke her nose. Blood gushed out of it, down her face, filling her mouth. Rolling over on her stomach, she spit it out on the ground.<br>Next thing she knew her face was pressed down against it. A rough hand had gripped her hair, forcing it into the moss. She could smell the earth under it, a safe small, mixed with the coppery scent of her blood. Suddenly she was turned over. The Woodsman was straddling her, keeping her hair in a tight grip. Against the night sky, covered with glittering stars, he looked huge. And that thing he had pulled out of his pants, swollen, twitching, that looked huge too.  
>"Suck my prick."<br>Her mouth wouldn't open. It was like someone had put pinesap between her lips, making them impossible to part. A feverish heat spread through her body, making her both shiver and sweat at the same time. One gloved hand gripped her jaw. By pressing his thumb against her cheek, he forced her mouth open, and pressed himself in.  
>He hadn't washed himself in quite a while. It tasted vinegary. Dirty. She could feel the sack under it pressing against the tip of her jaw. The hairs made a crisp sound, like dry grass. It itched.<br>Beneath her, the thick moss filled with night dew started to make her cold. Her limbs went kind of numb. It was uncomfortable. Now her throat itched too.  
>Red took shallow breaths not even aware of her own sobbing. The Woodsman grunted above her. From her angle, the little she could see of his dark face was distorted. He looked like some sort of pig. The way he grunted and panted, he might as well be.<br>"I'm gonna cum… I'm gonna fill you up.. I'm gonna…"  
>She couldn't breath. Panic spread like winter frost inside her when she realized how bad of an angle she was in. If he came in her mouth just now, she wouldn't be able to breath, or swallow… Red did all she could.<br>She bit down.  
>Birds flew up from their trees at the sound of the Woodsman's cry. As quickly as he had put himself in, he drew out, screaming in chock and awe.<br>"YOU CUNT!"  
>Blood seeped out from the shaft of his cock where she'd left perfect little teeth marks. Red stared at his cock as it went limp, blood dripping of the tip. Was that hers? Had she done that?<br>No time to waste. As quickly as she could, she got to her feet, while the Woodsman was busy staring at his wounded soldier. Not quickly enough.  
>A hand grabbed her ankle, twisting it so that she fell down on her stomach. Intense pain flooded her head again as her head hit the ground, making her teeth slam together.<br>"Ooooh no you don't! I'm not done with you!"  
>The growling that he made reminded her of the creature in the cottage, and again she screamed.<br>"Please! Please don't! Let me go I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"  
>A tearing, ripping sound came from her dress and she felt cold air on her buttocks. Brutally turned over on her back, she now felt the ice cold moss against her bare skin, and started shivering. Over her again, his hot hands everywhere, ripping, tearing, hurting.<br>"I'm sorry please let me go, please-"  
>Another punch. Her eye pulsated, and started swelling up. The entire brain felt scrambled, just rolling around inside her head. The blouse was torn of, her knickers torn to pieces. And in the next second there was hard cold metal against her leg.<br>Metal?  
>Lifting her head, she could see one thing through her good eye. One thing that made her entire body stiffen, and her breath stop in her throat.<br>His pistol. He had taken it out of his holster, and put it against her inner thigh. The length of a grown calf, made to rest on your upper arm when you shot, this gunpowder powered thing was directed straight up her slit.  
>"I am going to shoot your snatch to pieces from the inside."<br>Tracing it up, he put it against her slit, and started pressing. Pain again, but she couldn't move as the tip forcibly made its way inside.  
>"And I told, you, I never miss."<br>His finger moved upwards. Toward the trigger. Red could feel blood slowly making its way out of her.  
>"Please.. I won't tell anyone, I swear…"<br>"Neither will I…"  
>Grinning like a mad man, he gripped the pistol harder, and…<br>Made an extremely funny face. His eye twitched a little, his entire body stiff. And then slowly, slowly, he started tipping over. It was like watching a too high staple of books. But eventually, he collapsed on top of her. Behind him stood a tall wolf, almost completely black against the dark star covered sky. In his hand, a bloody rock matching the imprint on the back of the Woodsman's head.  
>"I might tell."<br>The blood covered girl with a broken nose stared up at him from under the man. Her eyes hurt him again. She was frightened, and hurt. He had failed.  
>"W-would… W-would…"<br>She tried to speak, and Duncan thought his heart was going to burst.  
>"Would.. Would you get this fucking CUNT of me so I can take his pistol out?"<br>Duncan jumped several feet, and then quickly got the man of her. While she… Corrected herself, he looked away until he was helpful again. Helping her to her feet, he watched closely as the sobbing girl turned around, looking at him.  
>"He saved my life."<br>She then kicked him.  
>Red turned around, and looked at the wolf, who met her eyes with kindness, and some distant form of shy nervousness.<br>"I owe you a thanks."  
>"You owe my nothing but your name."<br>As she raised her eyebrow, he mentally banged his head against a tree. Smooth.  
>"I'm Duncan."<br>Stroking a bloody lock of hair out of her face, she tried to gain a little selfconfidence, before she nasaly said:  
>"Little Red Riding Hood. You can call me Red."<br>For a couple of moments they stood silent, watching each other. Above them the stars glittered. The owls howled in their trees, the wind swept through the leafs making them rustle. Whispering softly about men, about how they're all animals, in one way or another. Duncan watched the girl for a long time. Thought about the kiss. Red watched the wolf. Thought about the kiss. Then Duncan opened his mouth, and spoke.  
>"Wait… They named you after a piece of clothing?"<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

"Wait… They named you after a piece of clothing?"  
>Duncan stood still, staring at the girl. He tried his best to keep the smirk inside his mind, even though it kept straining the corner of his mouth with need to come out. It was itching, hurting him to restrain it. Little Red Riding Hood… Yes it was one of the strangest names he had ever heard, and he had grown up in a village where people where named things like Clompus and Astrolite. Also he had once, as a young boy, heard a woman call her husband "Gecko-tongue" but he was until this day unsure if that was really his name or-<br>He was getting of topic. 

Red blinked stupidly over and over again. Her one good eye opened and closed , a pass time while her brain tried to make his words more understandable, comprehensible. A sudden flash rose to her otherwise pale and horrorstruck face. Nobody had ever questioned her name before, everyone seemed to simply accept it as part of the story.  
>"I'm sorry?"<br>Everything she said came out in a voice that did not sound like her own. The nose made her feel like she had the cold of a life time. Duncan shrugged every so little, cocking his head to the side whilst doing so. He really shouldn't go there. But since when did he really stay on the right paths?  
>"You don't have to be <em>sorry<em>! You didn't choose your name. So enlighten me. Why Riding Hood? Why not Little Red Boot? Or even better, Medium size green mitten?"  
>Curses. Why was it so damn irresistible? The colour her face was starting to take on was a nice shade of plum, and if he pushed her just a tiny bit further she might actually start to steam out the ears.<br>Red could not believe him. What a twat! She had trouble keeping her hands from strangling him as the pompous dickhead started grinning at her.  
>"Why are you so keen at making fun of my name?" Red spat at him, as if the words themselves where venom.<br>Duncan raised his hands in self-defense, round-eyed with a too-faked innocence.  
>"I'm not making fun of your name per se! I'm just pointing out that it was very cruel people who thought naming a baby after a piece of clothing would be funny. It's just… So… Horrible!"<br>At the end of the sentence his voice did a funny little cracking noise, and the big eyes got misty with deep and 'swear-to-God-rip-my-tail-of-if-I'm-lying"-sorrow.  
>Red snapped. <p>

"_**You utter prick**_!"  
>The few birds that after the ruckus had chosen to stay in their threes regretted this deeply as the girl bellowed at the top of her lungs.<br>"Hey!"  
>Shoving his fingers into his chest, Duncan showed how hurt he was.<br>"There is no need to yell at me! I was just pointing out that your name is sort of unusual!"  
>"Sort of unusual?"<br>She could not believe her ears. The venom again sprayed from her lips.  
>"You make my parents sound like child abusers the way you go on! Which they were not thank you very much! At least not that I know. Why in the name of all that is holy would you say things like that?"<br>"Made you forget the pain didn't it?"  
>The pit of fire that was feeding her anger suddenly turned into sharp ice. Staring, unblinkingly this time, she felt her stomach slowly sink. He was right. The brawl had made her forget, if only for a few moments, about the pain. About the throbbing that seared through her eye, mouth and innards. Also, he had somehow made her forget about the man that lay sprawled on the ground next to them, unconscious or dead. Not really important which. The plum in her face turned a rosy pink.<br>"Well did it?"  
>The playful sadness had disappeared from Duncans voice. In it's place was now something else. Something she had not thought about as something good before.<br>The soft undertones of concern where in his voice. Only in her mother had she heard them before, but there they had been fragile, frail, boarding on shrill as they dwindled on the high notes, ready to break in distress. From Duncan they were different. Warm.  
>This time it wasn't hard to keep from laughing. Duncan watched the girl as she started to look relatively calm again. The reason that had been presented seemed to hit the right spot, for a tiny smile twitched in the corner of her mouth. But internally he was banging his head against closest tree. If there wasn't anything wrong with him he would truly be surprised. Had he really just teased a girl who he'd just saved from being killed, after she'd been violated with a pistol?<br>Charming.  
>As if he had heard their thoughts, the man on the ground started moving around a little. Red flinched, and Duncan took action. They did NOT want to be there when the man woke up.<br>"Well Red, if that's your name I'm going to call you just that. Can you walk?"  
>Red hadn't really thought of what was going to happen next. When she tried to recap with her body she realized that blood slowly seeped down her inner thighs. There was a throbbing between her legs, in her nose, her eye… No. She didn't want to walk. Softly she shook her head.<br>Duncan grinned.  
>"I was hoping you'd say that. Then I don't feel bad about taking his horse."<br>A gust of wind flew by them, making the girl shiver. Her dress was torn to pieces. Duncan stooped down over the fallen man and unkindly ripped of his coat. He was going to get sick, lying there in the wet grass in only shirt and pants.  
>Good.<br>"Here. Take this, he isn't going to be needing it."  
>Red took it. A couple of second she stood still, and did nothing. The smell of the Woodsman was still in the fabric. It had seeped in a long time ago, it was going to be in there forever. Red was cold.<br>She wore it anyway.  
>The horse had moved away from the action of his master, and stood eating calmly by a tree. Duncan looked at him, and couldn't help to feel that odd, surging feel of belonging. The horse was an animal too, but not like he was one. They were different and yet alike. Who was to say they shouldn't strap him to a cart, just because sometime, long ago, someone had granted their tribe the power of speech?<br>A coughing brought him back from the world of thoughts. She was getting to cold, and her swollen eye kept her from putting the jacket on since she couldn't see straight. Duncan was overwhelmed with a sense of dumb-assedness he had not felt in a long time.  
>"Here."<br>He took a step forward, taking the coat from her. Red let him help her slip into it, she wasn't in a position where she felt she needed to state her independence. She just wanted to get home.  
>The collar had crumbled up around her neck. With his clawed hands, Duncan didn't really feel like starting to dig around her neck. Red felt this, and lifted her hands to help him, in the same moment Duncan decided that he should try to fix it after all. Their hands met on the collar, and stayed there.<br>The moment her soft skin touched his furry, rougher, the entire world stopped. Duncan felt his stomach getting tied up in a knot hard enough to withstand the wittiest boyscout. Her hands where slender, but had calluses and scars that told him she wasn't afraid of working. There was a scar from the left hands thumb down to her wrist, thin and white, gleaming softly in the moonlight.  
>Never before had he wanted to ask anyone anything so badly. He wanted to know what had hurt her, how she'd felt about it. Had she cried, been scared, or just sucked it up with an un-necessary bravery like now? Suddenly he felt bad, he felt a deep sting with shame because he hadn't been with her to comfort her when she'd been hurt.<br>Red stood still, staring. He was holding her hands. Part of her wanted to remove them. It sickened her, having a man's hands on her body, made her skin feel funny. Like there were worms underneath it. But another part of her… Oh another part of her. It sang, in the ways that summer birds sang in the morning.  
>His mouth was dry. Softly, reluctantly her hand twisted away, and corrected the collar.<br>"There. We should… We should go..  
>Her whisper made him feel sick. Yes. They had to get going. Because the Woodsman would wake up. She needed to get home. He did too.<br>But as they walked over to the Woodsmans horse, there was a quiet sense of knowing in the air, for both of them, that as soon as they were separated it was unlikely that they'd meet again. 

Quiet. The night surrounding them offered nothing but soft chirpings from the woods, the rustling of leafs, and the clicking sound from the horses hoofs. He was sitting in the front, with her arms around his waist. Neither of them wanted to have to go through the feeling of repeating what had just happened to her.  
>Duncan looked at the road in front of them. God this felt wrong… Sitting on an animal, it made him cringe. But she couldn't sit up by herself, and he didn't want to risk her falling off and hitting her face. She already looked like some had to tried to eat her for dinner.<br>This time the pun had not been intended.  
>Red, who had her face pushed up against his back, had her eyes closed. She was so tired. There wasn't a part of her body that didn't ache like crazy, and even though his tail tickled her, she didn't have the strength to move it, and when he had apologized about it for what seemed like the thirtieth time she had growled that it wasn't a problem in a voice so harsh Duncan had shut up.<br>It had been one of the strangest nights in a long time. No doubt her mother was going to have a fit. Any mother would, seeing her ripped and tattered clothes, the black eye, the nose… The pool of blood between her legs was too grim a thought to even start to fathom. She ignored it for the time being. Instead her arms clutched a little harder against Duncans waist. He didn't complain. They rode in almost complete silence, with her softly directing them closer to the cottage where she lived as she filled him in on the details of the night. As they got closer, the woods seemed to clear up a little. The safe lights from the home glimmered far away. Duncan felt he should say something.  
>"Don't worry, you'll be safe soon."<br>Just not that. He was an idiot, he knew that, but did it have to be proven over and over again? The tree he was mentally banging his head against had started to lose most of its bark.  
>"I mean-"<br>"How am I going to tell my Mother her mother is dead.."  
>The whisper came so suddenly, so soft, that it took Duncan a moment or two to fully understand that she had sad it. Then it dawned upon him, what had dawned upon her. There was more to this night for her than just getting inside, washing up, and trying to fall asleep. There was the worrying Mother. Having to tell her that she'd been raped and seen her Grandmother die, if you could call it that, technically she'd already been dead for quite some time, it wasn't something he envied her. The horse slowly came to a stop. Through the spaces between the tree trunks they could see the warm, golden light of her home.<br>"Shit."  
>The word was so simple when she pronounced it, with a soft undertone of honest surprise, that he couldn't for his life surpress the laughter that welled up within him. As she heard him laughing, the grip around his waist slacked a little. Quickly, he grabbed her hand.<br>"I'm sorry. If there was anything I Could do, I'd do it in a heartbeat."  
>Letting the words sink in, Red was silent. Then she hugged him again.<br>"Run away with me."  
>Duncan froze. There wasn't really anything else he could do. The impact of the words hit him as hard as the stone had hit the Woodsman. Did she mean it?<br>Before his very eyes he saw it all happen. They left together, right now. Turned around and rode until either they or the horse collapsed. Somewhere, in a small, distant piece of an even more distant forest, they made a home. Their days were filled with shagging. Yeah. He could see that. He could also hear his ribs cracking as her grip tightened.  
>Red held him harder than she was aware. The thought of getting of the horse, of going into the little cottage, and seeing her mother was all too much. She wished that she could have had anything to compare it too, like darkest nights or deep pits of anguish. But there was nothing. It just sucked.<br>"I'm going to get off here."  
>She slid down from the horse with ease. He followed, but didn't move with her as she headed for the cabin. She noticed this, and turned around,<br>From the cottages light he almost seemed to glow. His eyes looked even bigger now than in the meadow where they had met. The muscles underneath his fur tensed. Had it not been for the state of her body, she probably would have felt a surge lust. Now she just stood still, hurting. Lust seemed to have lost its meaning. The importance of her needs that had seemed the biggest thing on earth this morning just felt like a big steaming pile of nothing right now.  
>Duncan looked at her. A shadow had fallen over her face, and somehow he didn't think it was all because of the light coming from behind her. She just looked… Small.<br>"I wish I could tell you that it's going to be alright."  
>A smile twitched in the corner of her mouth. Her hands hand fallen to her sides, and just hung there, limp. Lifeless.<br>"So do I."  
>Duncan had never before felt more worthless. Moving up to her, he looked down at her, knowing that his touch could both be comforting and earthshattering. Frustration made him want to grit his teeth. Shame for what the man had done to her filled him. It was irrational; he hadn't had anything to do with it.<br>But mostly he just hated the Woodsman for what he had taken from the girl. There had been an innocence to her that morning that now seemed to be completely gone. And some part of him knew that the shame that filled him, was because he had helped get him started. Maybe he wasn't as innocent as he thought, if it hadn't been for him-  
>Her hand closed around his wrist. Every thought he'd ever had melted away. Those eyes where looking at him, those lips where trembling.<br>He should have killed the Woodsman.  
>Red had seen him thinking about something bad. There had come a darkness over his eyes that frightened her. She didn't want that. Didn't want their last moments to be filled with fear.<br>"I have to go inside."  
><em>I'm scared.<br>_"Yeah, it's probably for the best. You've been away quite some time."  
><em>I know.<br>_Red didn't know what to do. Letting go of his arm meant going inside. It meant parting. It meant pain, and suffering, and-  
>Duncan leaned in, and every so softly, licked her cheek. His broad, rough tongue traced along her soft skin, from chin to cheekbone, before he stepped back. Her fingers trembled as she touched the now moist skin. It glowed.<br>They said nothing more. Duncan returned to the horse. He was going to try to set it free. Maybe in some meadow somewhere… He looked back one last time to see her enter the cottage. Even from his place way outside he could her the Mothers shrill voice, shrieking when she saw the girl. The smell of Red still lay thick in the air. Duncan drew in a deep breath. He should get going. Closing his eyes, he remembered the smell of her skin. The taste of her lips. The way her hair bounced about when she walked. There. He had enough to get him home.  
>Duncan opened his eyes.<p>

And realized he was looking into the muzzle of a pistol.


	4. Chapter 4

As soon as Red opened the door she was met by the heavy smell of liquor. It came at her, not as a gust, not as a wall, but as its own being. She had never seen it, but although her childhood it had been there. Lurking behind every bad turn, waiting to pounce as soon as the nights grew lonely, as soon as she'd made Red cry with too-harsh-words, or been tricked into buying bad cabbage at the market for the fifteenth time this year and had to watch her daughter try to hide the pain eating it gave. All those times, and countless more, it came lurking out of the shadows and gave her a bottle. Red had tried to throw them out. Had tried to go through every cupboard, turn every floorboard around and even go shake the linens in her bed to get every little bottle, 'cause there had been a lot. But when the monster came, he brought his own bottles, and soon he was everywhere again. When she was a younger girl, when she'd slept in her room, watching the shadow of her mother dance upon the narrow slice of light that shone in under the door, she'd waited for him to appear. Staring, unable to move, she had stared at the floor, looking for the monster to arrive, and start to crawl toward her own door.  
>Now, when Red opened the door, he was there to welcome her in. Her mother had turned on a couple of lanterns, but the stove wasn't lit, and by the cold in there she could tell it hadn't been on all day. The monster ushered her in, big claws pulling at her clothes. She closed the door behind her.<br>Her mother was sitting at the corner of the table. Slumped over a brown bottle, with fingers slowly stroking the dark glass, the woman looked very sick. The skin looked like old parchment that had been left in the rain. Her hair was washed frequently, but was know so thin and striped that it no longer helped. Hands shook like an old woman's and failed at almost every task. Her eyes had grown lust less a long time ago. What once had shimmer like lakes a sunny day where now pools of mud. No reflection, no deeper exploration that could be done without finding anything but bitter coldness and filth. Red hated herself for thinking these thoughts about the woman that had loved her for so many years. That had taken care of her, watched over her.  
>But she had never really mothered her.<p>

Red swallowed to keep her throat from closing up. The muddy puddles that looked up at her through stripes of dark hair made shivers run down her spine. There were no life in those eyes, and it frightened her so deeply.  
>"Mum, I'm sorry, I-"<br>Red's shivering sentence was pulled to an abrupt halt as her mother started speaking.  
>"Where have you been?"<br>That voice rose from a deep well. Moist, rumbling, like a belch from the innermost of the earth, filled with stinking air that made Reds knees weaken. The monster wasn't just within the room anymore. It was within her mother. Pictures from the horrors she'd witnessed earlier that night suddenly came to her, but she knew that wasn't it. This was just her mother, through and through, with some added spice from a bottled friend.  
>"I was-"<br>"Woodsmen came here…"  
>Ice ran through Reds spine now.<br>"They told me that your Grandmother hadn't sent any letter… They told me that you were in danger. And you didn't come back. I was frightened."  
>Red's fingers started twisting into each other. To say that she was frightened was calling a blizzard 'chilly'. True. And a massive understatement.<br>"Grandma's dead."  
>The puddles stared at her through the stripes of hair. Nothing stirred in them. No glimpse of life what so ever.<br>"Mum I'm so sorry, I went over there to see her, and when I came there she-"  
>The creature that resembled the woman she called mother moved so suddenly that she nearly screamed. It was like watching a spider on a hot plate of metal, she jumped up and scattered around, the bottle rolling down on the floor with high banging sounds, joined by louder bangs as the chair that her mother had been sitting on fell to the floor.<br>"No!"  
>A cry rose from the woman's lips. It was so inhuman, so far away from any drop of sanity that had ever existed within it, that Red started sobbing. A body-shaking sob, unstoppable by any force of nature took over her as she backed away from her mother skitting all over the cabin like a rabid dog. It was terrifying. No other word had ever existed that described it better than that. The counter behind her suddenly took a stop from her backing up. The red ridinghood she always wore slid open from the sudden bump, making her mother look up. A bewildered look had taken over her mother that was more animalistic than anything she'd ever seen in the critters in the forrest. Not even Duncan, with his wild frame, could look like that in a million years. Through striped hair her mother's eyes looked like deep wells.<br>Time passed. How long, she didn't know. Just that it was enough to make her limbs tired. Perhaps she'd been standing there for an hour, a second, but her feet ached. Her mother stared at her with her bottomless eyes, and Red just stared back. Afraid that if she moved she would poke the dragon, the monster, sleeping inside her mother's now frozen face.  
>It was apparently not necessary. Her mother moved on her own accord, slowly moving her eyes up and down her body.<br>"Your clothes are torn."  
>Red looked down upon herself, and started shaking her head. She was fine, she hadn't, she didn't…<br>Her mother started coming closer. Slowly moving over the floor, her feet not quite moving in the pace of the rest of her body, she moved closer. Dragging herself. Red sobbed harder.  
>"You let a man touch you… Didn't you? You let him put his filthy hands all over your body, and now… Now you're ruined…"<br>Red tried to get away, and darted toward the door. The woman snatched after her skirt, missed, and fell to the floor. For a moment Red was in the forest again. The woodsman over her, trying to force her thighs apart, making her feel cold waves of sweat through her entire body. But instead of getting up again, keep on fighting, her mother didn't move from the place on the floor we're she'd fallen. She stayed there, sobbing. Slowly rocking side to side with both arms around her, murmuring something, whispering incoherently, she stayed. Red looked at her, and then shut her eyes.  
>"I'm sorry mum… I didn't mean to-"<br>Outside she heard a high-pitched howl, followed my snarling growls. Her stomach dove. Duncan. Turning around, she opened her eyes and headed for the door. Behind her, her mother rustled to her feet.  
>"No! Red, don't leave me, please don't leave me! I'm sorry darling please!"<br>In her voice there was the monster again, just as desperate as she was. Red moved faster. This wasn't the time. There was no time for the "I'm Sorry's", no time for excuses. She had to make sure Duncan was alright.  
>Red slammed the door open. A loud bang echoed through the woods, and the howling came to an abrupt stop.<p>

*

Duncan stared down into the barrel, which seemed to be staring back just as intense. Not even a lead pipe anymore, but the darkness within formed a hollow with mass. Like a big black eye looking back at him, just as vivid as his own. Waiting. Watching. Duncan had to clench very hard not to make a mess of his already horrible-looking pants.  
>Behind the gun stood a Woodsman, looking at him. It wasn't the same man that he'd tracked down, and who's head he'd turned into a nice little bowl. It was someone else. A man in his 30's, with stubble on his cheeks, hollowed cheeks and dark eyes that stared him down almost as good as the gun itself. If Duncan hadn't known better, he would have thought this man the animal in the forest.<br>The man looked as if he hadn't slept for day, and still the muzzle didn't shiver.  
>"You've got ten seconds to explain what you're doing here before I make sure there are one less animal roaming these woods."<br>Duncan's heart almost leaped out of his chest. It was painful, no doubt about that, and still he tried to keep his calm. Even though he, still, was about to literally shit his pants.  
>"I followed the girl who lives there home!"<br>For some reason his hands were in the air. He hadn't told him anything about raising them, but it felt sort of right.  
>"You can check it! Her name is Little Red Riding Hood, I swear to the Gods! I mean, man, I couldn't make this shit up, that is really her name."<br>The Woodsman stared at him for a couple of seconds, and then lowered his pistol. It was slow, and his hand remained on the trigger, but Duncan felt relief in the fact that he could unclench his cheeks without being worried about leakage.  
>"My name's Duncan. I'm from the D'ari-tribe, in the east of the woods. You know the area, right?"<br>The ragged man nodded, and Duncan relaxed a little more.  
>"I know the area, and I know your people. Gumnan is a friend of mine."<br>This made Duncan feel a little on guard. Gumnan was the leader of the Tribe, Clompus father, and he wasn't all sure that he would befriend any Woodsmen. The ragged man saw this, and almost seemed as nervous as Duncan was.  
>"Sorry, I know we haven't too good of a reputation. I helped you get some more flower when the miller refused to give you what he owed."<br>Eager to make Duncan believe him, or so it seemed, he stuck out his hand to him.  
>"I'm Axel. It's nice to meet you. Or well, you know."<br>Duncan took his hand, and squeezed it.  
>"The pleasure is all mine now that you've pointed your pistol out of my face. Very nice way to say hello, how do you show someone you love them, a dagger up their ass?"<br>The man scuffed, and jerked his head back to get some of his hair out of the way.  
>"You might have been a dangerous animal trying to eat that poor family, granny and all!"<br>"Her granny's already dead, and I'M not the one pointing my pistol at people!"  
>Axel blinked, and his eyebrows narrowed.<br>"What was that about her-"  
>But his words were cut off midway by a terrible cry that rose from the cabin. Every drop of blood froze in his body. Axel stared too, lifting his pistol once more, darting toward the cabin. But Duncan stopped him. Putting one arm out against his chest, holding him back, Duncan stared at the cottage, not moving a muscle. Axels eyes went from the cabin to Duncan, over and over.<br>"What? Are you insane, why won't you let me go there to check it out?"  
>Duncan did not need to look at him to respond.<br>"She's just told her mother that her grandmother is dead. Let's wait. I don't want to go anywhere in case she needs me but if I barge in there she'll never forgive me."  
>Axel stared at him, but seemed to think he made at least a little sense. He lowered the pistol again, and sighed.<br>"Oh Dear. And I thought I was going to have a quiet night."  
>This time it was Duncan's turn to scoff. Still turned towards the cabin, he smiled a little.<br>"Is there such a thing?"  
>Were there ever quiet nights? He had believed so once, now... He was not so sure. This was a night as any other. The stars were out, twinkling just as they had yesterday, and would tomorrow, independent of the creatures crawling underneath them. And still. Tonight they had more spark. Tonight there seemed to be more stars, shining brighter. And Duncan craved them in a way he hadn't before. He craved their brightness. Wanted to bath in their glory, and show it to another. For the first time since he had been fourteen and Astrolite had showed him the stars formations, he wanted to share the sky with someone again. Although that night he had looked more at Astrolite than the stars.<br>Nothing came from the cabin. Looking at Axel again, he smiled. He wasn't that worried. Red was somewhat safe. He would stay here until morning, just making sure. Then he could get out of her life. Making sure she'd never have to deal with him or woodsmen ever again.  
>"So Axel. Tell me about yourself. How is it you're not trying to rape me or anything?"<br>A sound of a crow being stomped by horses came over Axels lips as he choked on his own laughter. Bending over, he grasped his knee with the free hand, laughing hard. Duncan just stood still, waiting, grinning. It wasn't a funny subject, it was one of the things the Woodsmen did. But somehow it felt easier to say something like that than to actually be nice and interested in his life.  
>When Axel once again could breath like a human-being he lifted his head, smiling broadly at Duncan.<br>"You're a piece of shit, has anyone ever told you that?"  
>"Everyone I ever met."<br>"They were all right. But so are you. My fellow men don't exactly give me the best reputation to work with."  
>Axel got up, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. He wore cotton gloves with the fingers cut of halfway. They were ragged too. Dirty.<br>As Alex leaned back against one of the nearest trees, Duncan doing the same, he smiled a crooked smile that made Duncan grin a little wider. One of the few men he'd met without fur that he actually liked.  
>"My name is Axel, like I've told you. I'm a Woodsman. This you can see. I moved to these woods after my wife passed away."<br>Duncan nodded slightly, crossing his arms.  
>"I'm sorry she died."<br>"Oh she didn't actually die."  
>Axel laughed again, but there was a bitterness in there as strong as arsenic.<br>"She just left me. Passed right by me as she left, waving a little as she went along."  
>Duncan blinked. Then he laughed. Yeah. He liked him.<br>"How charming..."  
>A husky voice came from the darkness between the trees and almost made Duncan fall over. He knew that voice, hadn't heard it before today and not for very long but he'd know it anywhere.<br>From the woods stepped the blond man he had seen pinning Red to the moss-covered floor of the forest. How the man had gotten there so quickly he didn't know. But he and Red had been going quite slowly, and he had been standing here for some time, maybe the man hadn't been as hurt or out of it as they had thought. Just seeing him made his stomach turn. His body responded before his mind and he gave out a low growl.  
>Axel looked at the blond man, and clenched his teeth.<br>"Rolf. You're looking a little less composed than usual."  
>That was an understatement. His shirt was a mess. The blond hair had a tint of pink, deep red and just plain bloody nastiness. He staggered closer, limping heavily, staring at Duncan.<br>"I had a run in with a wolf. I'm going to take care of it though."  
>Duncan backed up against the tree he had been standing next to. The man was still carrying his pistol, and Duncan did not doubt that he would gladly paint the tree with his brains.<br>Axel lifted his own pistol.  
>"I know you Rolf. I want you to walk away. Leave the girl, and the wolf, alone. I'm handling it."<br>The bloody man scoffed. Stroking some bloody hair out of his forehead, he moved even closer.  
>"Axel, you have nothing to do with this. I am going to get mine, first I'm going to blow the brains out off this one, and then I'm going to get his little cunt and fuck her with my fist until she begs to go the same way and I will let her."<br>Duncan threw himself at him as soon as he had finished the sentence. But Rolf was fast, even with a head injury and a bit groin he was still fast enough to slam his pistol into Duncan's chest. Intense pain exploded from the point where it had hit, and Duncan started howling in pain. Grinning, the woodsman moved closer. So close Duncan could smell his musky, bitten groin. He growled.  
>"Or perhaps, I'll do it a bit differently."<br>Rolf's voice was softer now. Smooth as honey mixed with cream.  
>"I'll off her first. I'll make you watch, how would you like that? These are bullets especially meant for me you know. They split into hundreds of little pieces, I could make you look like ground beef with one shot."<br>Duncan roared. The cabin door slammed opened. Rolf, Axel and Duncan all turned their heads. A shot went off.

Silence filled the woods. Nothing was heard, not even the fluttering of wings. Duncan looked at Red. Was she hurt? But he saw no blood. She was paler than normal, but other than that she seemed to be alright. Duncan second thought was that he was dead. He must be. Never before had the forest been so quiet, what else could that possibly be besides death?  
>But there was no wound. No pain. Nothing at all to imply him that he was actually dying or dead.<br>Red looked at the three men. One she had never seen before. The other two, well one of them wolf, was too familiar. Where they hurt? She could see no wounds on Duncan, he was still standing, looking at her. The blond one had his pistol pointed her way. Quickly her hands fluttered over her stomach. She wasn't hurt. At least she didn't feel it. Was she dead?  
>A slumping sound made her look back into the cabin.<br>And her heart stopped dead in her chest.  
>Her mother had slumped down on the floor. Where there had once been a chest, a stomach, skin, a functioning body, there was now just a bloody mass. Clothes had ripped to shreds, skin had been broken. Blood not only poured out. It gushed, it leaked onto the floor. The monster was gone from her mother's eyes. But so was her mother.<br>"Mum?"  
>The whisper came over her lips. She didn't move. Still she stood there, staring at the lifeless puppet on the floor. The shell of what had once been her mother. That had held her when she fell down and hurt her knee. That sew capes to her. That stroke her hair when she thought she'd already fallen asleep.<br>The woman who's last action had been begging her daughter for forgiveness and never gotten it.  
>Red walked toward her. One hand stretched out, she wanted to touch her mother. Make her stop acting. Make her get up, laugh it off and hug her.<br>"Mum? It's... It's okay, it's going to be alright mum I'm gonna.. I'm just going to.."  
>Red sank down and started touching the rippled stomach. Something big and pink slid out of hole in the skin.<br>"I'm sorry, I'll put it back.. I'm sorry I was mad mum... Please. Mum wake up, I'll be good."  
>Not even crying she tried to push the organ back in with shivering hands.<br>"Mum?"

Duncan couldn't move. The three men all saw the horrible scene through the little door. Rolf turned around, and gave out a little sigh.  
>"So, where was I?"<br>A great roar came from Axels lips as he threw him to the ground. Throwing himself at Rolf was the easiest thing with his pistol, so he had thrown it aside. The men started fighting on the ground, and Duncan stood still, staring at Red. Axel looked at him over his own shoulder, busy trying to knock Rolf out.  
>"GET HER OUT!"<br>There was no need to tell him twice. Rushing into the little cottage he found Red, trying to push the organs back into her dead mother. It took all that he had not to start crying. Quickly he rushed over to her, and scooped her into his arms. She didn't fight it, just stretched out her arms after her mother.  
>"No, no, I need to..."<br>Duncan held her close, felt the warmth of her next to him and put his nose in her hair.  
>"No love, she's gone. And we're going to be soon if we don't get out of here."<br>Another shot burnt off as they went outside. Duncan gritted his teeth and didn't look back as the smell of gunpowder reached his sensitive nose with the smell of blood as Axel screamed. The horse stood still by the trees; it hadn't been scared of yet. It was probably used to blood and ruckus.  
>He threw Red on the horses back, then himself. Grasping the reins he looked back at the two men only once. What he saw made him pull Red closer, with her head bobbing back against his shoulder. Rolf had his pistol. Axel was on the ground, hand against his chest. It was covered with blood.<p>

Duncan yelled, pressed his heals in the horses sides, and it took off. Quickly this time. The wind brushed past them, whipped them cruely. He burrowed his head in her neck and took a deep breath of her, crying. She just stared into the sky as they rode. The leaves didn't whisper anymore. The stars weren't bright. The world had turned cold, and dead. As they burst into the night, horse foaming at the mouth, she drifted off to sleep. With no sense of where they were going. How they were going to get there, or what they were going to do.  
>The only thing that was certain was that she had nowhere to return.<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

The forest was buzzing with life. The air had grown damp, thick with the smell of wet soil and leafs. Tiny animals scattered around between rocks and plants, some even in the trees, morning birds had begun chirping cheerfully. A squirrel stopped, suddenly. It had a large bushy tail that quivered slightly, as if it was the tail itself that had detected something, not the squirrel. It swirled around on top of its branch, and looked at the creature moving along the thick path of the forest. No, it was not only one creature. It was two, riding a larger one. The little nose twitched, as if the tiny furry animal was frowning. Apparently, it did not approve of such things. Perhaps it thought that it was each animal for itself, and if you couldn't walk the distance on your own, you shouldn't go there at all. A rustling of leafs ahead told him that an acorn had fallen, and everything else than collecting it was forgotten. It hurried off.  
>Duncan and Red took no notice of either the squirrel or its judging ways. They sat quite still, letting the horse lead the way only once in a while getting Duncan's foot pressed into its side to change direction.<br>There lay such a silence between them that Duncan was on the verge of screaming in frustration. He wasn't good with this sort of thing! He was good with laughter, with teasing, he was excellent with that. But what did you say to a girl who had seen both her grandmother and mother die in the same night?  
>Nothing. You said nothing.<br>Red just kept staring at the air in front of her. In the bright eyes there wasn't even a glimpse of her, as if they had been turned to glass and pushed into her skull when she wasn't aware of it. The entire body of the curvy girl slumped back against Duncan, and he held her by the waist. But it wasn't calm, comforting embrace. It was merely to keep her on the horse.  
><em>"You've really done it now chap!" <em>Duncan's brain informed him in a happy sort of way that made Duncan's snout twitch "_How are we going to get out of this one? I'll tell you, NOT AT ALL! We have no choice but to take her with us now!"  
><em>Duncan groaned. It was true. He could not leave in the forest like this, not only would she be easy prey if that Rolf-git came back, or any other animals that might come along. He thought of Axel, and a slight guilt shot through his body. He shouldn't have left him there. It had been wrong, but…  
>Red stirred a little in his arms, and he looked down at her, worried. But what met his eyes was nothing but that glassy gaze again, and with a sigh he sat back up, looking at the sky. Even his brain fell silent.<br>The forest was truly buzzing with life. Birds chirped, leafs rustled, and small animals went about with their lives.  
>How could it be, in a world so filled with life, she was filled with nothing but death?<p>

Once more Duncan looked at her, and insecurely he stroked her arm. When she did not respond he cleared his throat with what he wished was a respectful noise, and not something like a wolf's hungry growl. She jumped, and her blank eyes looked up at him.  
>"I'm going to take you to my village. I… Just wanted you to know."<br>Red looked at him, and then let her eyes fall to the road again, not even nodding. But by the way her fingers grasped his arm, he guessed she understood.  
>A Wolf village. Had anyone told her the other day that she was going to see a tribe of wolfs up close she would have laughed them in the face. Now she didn't feel like laughing ever again. Before them the forest parted a little and a wet swamp spread out before them. Red sneaked a glance at Duncan, questioning him without speaking. He looked at it with a sense of longing and relief, like someone seeing a bed after traveling for hours.<br>"We're here."

To say that the wolf's had been sort of wrongfully persecuted by the Woodsmen was the largest understatement since someone said that it was "a little chilly" on a glacier. They had had it in for the Wolfs for a long time, since they were one of the more coherent breeds in the forest, with villages and leaders and so forth. Sure, there were the fairy village but they lived in mushrooms, and if they ever had an uproar they could just trample "by mistake" on the castle, since it was in a large shitake mushroom up to a regular human's knee, and it's only guards were some dragonflies.  
>Eventually the Tribe had gotten tired of being harassed. Since they were animals, with no sense of right and wrong, according to some anyway, they were not allowed to use or learn magic. But a lot of gold can buy a lot of secrets. Gumnan and a chosen few from the tribe had been given the chance to learn magic, not a lot, but enough to keep themselves safe from intruders. For a wanderer through the woods, their village would look like nothing more than a swamp, not big enough to be suspicious, but not something you wanted to take a stroll through with the shadows of slimy creatures moving in and out of the puddles. A swamp it was, and a swamp it would stay. If no one told you where it was.<br>The reason one should know this, is to understand why Duncan choose to take Red to the village of his people, having Rolf and whatever Woodsmen he could find at his tail. It was not a mistake from a beaten up and foolish man, since he knew that they would be safe there, and one should not have to worry or annoy themselves with these thoughts while continuing with the story.

Duncan got off the horse, and patted him on the side before helping Red down. She stood next to him, looking at the swamp with mild surprise, but said nothing. Duncan turned to the horse, which looked back, and smiled at him.  
>"There. Thank you for letting us hike a lift. You can go now."<br>But the horse merely bumped its silky mouth to his shoulder and remained. Blinking, and then grinning, Duncan shrugged.  
>"Fine then. You can stay."<br>Turning to the swamp he looked at Red and was for a second flabbergasted. What was he going to do? This felt wrong. Telling someone from the outside felt horribly wrong, but… It couldn't be helped right? Red stood staring at the swamp, the swelling in her beaten eye had went down a little, she could peer out of it, but she still looked horrible. She would for a couple of days he supposed. What a night it must have been… That's why it was right. She had nowhere else to go. She was alone.  
>Duncan knew what it was to be alone.<br>Putting his hand on the girls shoulder he bent forward, talking softly not quite into her ear, not wanting to give her any discomfort.  
>"This is not a swamp. It's the Village of the Wolfs."<br>The tiniest of gasps escaped the girl as she watched the swamp. Duncan knew what it looked like. He had seen it once before too.  
>The puddles slowly dried out, became empty. At the same time the grass among it turned nice and green, thick and lively. The trees ripped out their own roots, moving out of the way of huts and cabins that popped up out of the ground like mushrooms, some small and homey, some big and important looking, with symbols drawn on the doors. Some had stray for roof, the bigger ones had stone, logs, or even metal in some cases. Most of the tinier ones where round, the largest ones square, but some of the tinier ones where square too. The shadows that had been lurking all around the swamp now became clearly visible, turned into wolfs that were coming out of the huts and homes. Women, men, children, some clad in nothing but loincloths, some in almost humanlike clothing, the children were naked.<br>Duncan looked at them hurrying towards them and could have cried openly. He was tired. His limbs felt ready to fall off, and all he wanted was to close his eyes. To forget, just for a moment.

Astrolite made his way through the smaller crowd of whispering wolfs and ran up to his friend and Red, whose eyes had grown to twice their size. Duncan put his hand on her back and looked at Astrolite who recognized her instantly.  
>"What happened?"<br>There was fury in his best friends voice like he'd never heard before and he loved it. Loved it more than words could describe, but this was not the time. This was not the place. Steadying himself he kept his hand on Red's back.  
>"Is Phedora awake?"<br>Astrolite looked at him, then nodded, and turned around to see if it was so, and if wasn't, wake the elderly medic. Meanwhile Duncan pushed past the other wolfs looking at them, worrying looks going up and down the girl that was bleeding and shivering in the early morning chill.  
>"Please, I need to get to the sick-hut, can we just..."<br>"DUNCAN BANE!"  
>The words seared the air, making everyone of his hairs stand on end. He knew that voice so well that he could have made it out in the crowd if she had whispered. Unfortunately though, it rarely whispered.<br>A large female wolf, clad in a long dress made out of cotton and a huge apron in the front with a bulging pocket, came marching up to them. She had brown fur and clear brown eyes, sparkling with fury.  
>"Gloria, I'm sorry, I-"<br>She stopped in front of him, towering over him even though he was slightly taller than her. Red just stared at her as she threw herself in his arms, stopping his words dead.  
>"You ridiculous boy! What do you think you're doing, running of in the night like that, not coming back! I thought you'd died, Woodsmen everywhere, and now this!"<br>Her brown eyes locked at Red, who blinked, for a moment forgetting everything sad and horrible out being pure startled.  
>"Me!?"<br>"Yes you! Who are you? Why are you hurt? Why are you here?"  
>Red opened her mouth when Duncan did not. He understood that when Gloria was like this, she wasn't looking for answers, she was ranting and talking would just ruin it.<br>"Astrolite told me you were out and that you'd found some tart, but I never thought you'd bring her back here and-"  
>Red splurted something, but the female wasn't having it.<br>"-all bloodied up! What happened, did you put her in this state?!"  
>"Hey!"<br>Red had called out, making the woman halt in her fierce screaming. Both Duncan and Gloria turned their heads toward her, perplexed.  
>"I am not a tart! And Duncan didn't do this, he rescued me, twice, he… He…"<br>But no more words came out. Red put one shivering hand to her chest, where everything had gone completely cold, as if she in the chilly morning bore the entire season of winter inside her. Blood chilled in her veins, running still, but under crests of ice like frozen over streams, she tried to draw breath and heard a crackling noise from deep within when her lungs fought against the restriction of being frozen. The woman, Gloria, looked at her for a couple of seconds, and then all the anger on her face seemed to melt away.  
>"Oh dear…"<br>There was an embarrassed warmth in her voice now when she walked up to her, watching the shivering girl. The brown eyes that had been shooting daggers were now worried and frowning, but so warm that it could have made Red cry.  
>"I'm sorry, I scream a lot… I'm sure Duncan didn't do it I was just so… Oh dear you're shivering! Why isn't Phedora here?"<br>The brown eyes looked at Duncan, who gave out a tiny scoffing noise.  
>"Don't look at me like that! I arrived the same time as her!"<br>"And you haven't gone to fetch the medic? Dear Lord she must think we're animals! Come on dear, I'll take you over there if you just follow me."  
>Red let herself be caught in the woman's arms, and directed down the village. As they walked toward one of the larger huts Astrolite passed them, going back up to the Duncan where the crowd had scattered uncomfortably as to get out of Gloria's warpath.<br>The hut had logs for roof; the door had a large symbol on it that looked like a drop of rain in deep blue. Gloria opened the door and a strong smell came out of the cabin. Burning sage, dried lavender and roses, and ten more smells she couldn't quite make out hit her like a wall. Fright struck her for a second as memories flooded over her. Her grandmother, kind, sweet, with her belief in flowers and their healing powers, with her kind eyes bursting all over her face as her skin broke. Her mother, with the invisible monster all around her, the smell of alcohol and depression that hit like a wall as well, but sour and horrible, flooded her senses. Red tried to breath as she saw her mother getting her ready for the walk to Grandmas, putting the cloak in her, stroking her cheeks, warning her for the animals in the forest, and then the same woman, lying on the floor with her innards all over it, with blood pouring out of her onto Red's hands and clothes, Red looked down at her own hands and started screaming.  
>Gloria jumped, and looked at the girl, then into the hut. An elderly wolf came towards them, she was thin with silver fur and a calm expression on her face.<br>"Come here."  
>Red kept on screaming until she had no air, then she just stood there, looking at her own hands, eyes bulging and mouth wide opened. Phedora went up to her and grabbed both her hands in one of her furry ones, and put the other over her eyes. Red started squirming, the image of her mother bleeding all over everything and her dead face staring up in the air, her last wish of forgiveness unfulfilled.<br>"Hold her Gloria."  
>Gloria did just that as the elderly female closed her own eyes. She let out a low snarl and a word Red had never heard in her life.<br>"_**Grotal**_."  
>As soon as the female had spoken Red's legs gave away and Gloria had to hold her more firmly. Red was asleep. The two women put her in a bed, and put a semi-new blanket over her, watching the girl breathing calmly.<br>"Will she dream?"  
>Gloria looked worriedly on Phedora as she stroked the girl's forehead. Red didn't budge an inch.<br>"No."  
>"Good."<p>

Duncan looked at Astrolite. The two wolfs stood still for a couple of moments, Duncan shaking hard, Astrolite's brows drawn together worriedly. Then Duncan began to sob.  
>Astrolite took him in his arms and held him so close he could feel tiny prickles when Duncan's fur was pressed against his, and stroke his head. Duncan put his nose against Astrolite's neck and tried to breath between heavy sobs. Astrolite stared out into the air, unsure of what do. He was good with jokes. Good with punches on shoulders and advice that didn't concern him. But Duncan was his best friend, and he didn't know what do to when was like this, when he just sobbed and shivered in his arms. They had a usual relationship for the Tribe, they were best friends and at times even lovers, even though only under the mating festivals and even then there were usually other people involved. He could laugh with him, fight with him, have sex with him, but when it came to comforting him the large wolf was at a loss.<br>"Come on, let's go to my place."  
>Astrolite whispered it in Duncan's ear, and he nodded. It was all too much. He needed sleep, he needed to forget. As Astrolite pushed him closer Duncan realized he needed something else as well.<br>Astrolite's hut lay a bit down the village, closest to the edge of the spell. He liked being able to keep watch, if someone was going to invade from there he was going to be the first to know, the first to protect. Astrolite was an alfa without rank in the tribe, and Duncan knew it was killing him little day by day.

Astrolite's was tiny. It was round, with straw for roof, but Duncan loved it just the same, it was homier to him then most of the fancier places. There wasn't much in there. A bed, a chest of his things, some chairs, a desk against one of the walls that he never used, it had just been put there for when Duncan visited. He liked writing.  
>As soon as the door closed behind him Duncan closed his arms around Astrolites neck and started biting his neck. Astrolite let go a shocked tiny growl, and pushed him away a little, surprised.<br>"Now? Really? Duncan what about the girl, you brought her back, and you're so tired, and-"  
>"Erase her."<br>Duncan's voice was harsh. Those eyes that always were glittering with joke and wit seemed to have sunk in a little during the night, aging him at least five years. His hands were shaking slightly, but he did not care. He wanted the girl out of his system. Caring for her was not a problem, protecting from the terrors of the world. But he didn't want this. This strange… Longing that filled his veins with poison, that felt like he'd been stung by a thousand bees. He didn't want the memory of how she'd kissed him, as if he wasn't a strange hideous creature but someone to be desired, wanted, lov-  
>Before the thought could form itself he pushed Astrolite up against the door and began kissing him hungrily before biting his neck again.<br>"Erase her! I want her out of my system, I want her out!"  
>Duncan's broke as he shouted the last words, trembling with every fiber of his being. Astrolite stared down at his best friend and lover, blinking fast. Did he really want this? Duncan was hurt, not at his right senses. Wouldn't it be wrong? It was better than the sobbing though… He wasn't sure he could handle any more of that. For a couple of moments he stood thinking. Then he closed his arms around Duncan in return.<br>"Let's go to bed."  
>They did, and during that dewy morning, when Red slept a dreamless sleep, Rolf raged through the woods to get his men and the forest buzzed with life, Astrolite did his very best to make Duncan forget.<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

There comes a morning when we open our eyes and realize that we are at the wrong place. Hopefully, it will be easily fixed, maybe you've fallen asleep at a friend's home and need to get home to do something important, or perhaps you've spent the night with someone you once loved and promised yourself not to be with anymore. There comes a morning when you wake up in the wrong place, in everybody's life. And let's hope it's just once or twice, and easily fixable. 

For Red, this was one of those mornings where it's not easy. For a moment she couldn't quite see. The ceiling wavered in and out of her vision, but she could tell that it was made out of logs. Logs placed on each other with straw in between to make sure that the rain didn't get in. This wasn't her ceiling.  
>Somewhere inside her body where her stomach once had been there was emptiness in the waiting. A monster that still slumbered. <p>

The bed she was in creaked slightly as Red sat up. The room was filled with several other beds. At either side of the rectangular room were two doors. But no sound was heard. All the beds lay empty, made but with a stale look about them, as if no one had slept there in quite some time, as if their occupants had gotten up and disappeared. Gone away.  
>The monster stirred. <p>

Red looked from each of the doors, and tried to sit up further. A sharp pain in her side made her wince. Looking down she found herself wrapped in bandages. Her entire midsection was covered in them. As she thought about it she noticed that they went further down, between her legs, covering-  
>The monster roared and she soothed it by keeping her mind of that. For now. No need to think about that. <p>

The mattress underneath her was filled with straw. She could both feel and hear it, the way it creaked and bended, springing back a little but not much. It was sort of nice, but in some places she could feel the ends of the straw sticking out, trying to dig their way into her flesh even through the thick fabric that surrounded them. With a grimace Red sat up. The air was nice in here. It smelled of Forest, but in some other way of.. Water. Very much like water, as if she was sitting by a creek and not at all in an infirmary. Because that must be what is was, it was the only explanation for why she would be there. Why was she here? 

The Monster got on its feet and started roaring for all it was worth as the thought came over her. It spewed its poison through her body, turning her limbs numb. Staring into thin air she drew breath, opened her mouth and began screaming. The scream went deep, it came from the pit of her stomach. The blue eyes forced themselves closed as she relived, over and over, how her mother was turned inside out, how her own hands became covered with her blood as she tried to put her back together.  
>One of the doors burst open, but Red didn't notice. She just screamed, tiny drops of spit flying from her lips as she saw her Grandmothers eyes burst within their sockets, running down the wrinkled cracked cheeks like soft boiled egg white. <p>

Phedora ran up to the young girl and grasped her shoulders. She was going to wake the entire village with her screaming. Shaking her a little she made the blond head bob, but nothing more. God the child looked horrific. Her eye was close to dark purple, her mouth was swollen, and the state of her body… It was enough to make you tear up.  
>"Stop this nonsense! You'll wake everyone up." <p>

The sharp voice made Red open her eyes. The scream stopped in her throat, as if a cork had been put there. Something told her that screaming when this woman was talking was a bad idea. The eyes were not those of a wolf, but more of a hawk, and the way that they looked at her made her feel like she probably could see if there was a fly crawling on the wall behind her.  
>Phedora nodded.<br>"There we go. Now, are you hungry girl?"  
>Red just stared. Food? How could she talk about food when there was dead people in the world, people who had walked around and talked, just days before? People who had hands, who had liked to eat different things and people who had thought things nobody would ever hear? How could anyone be hungry? <p>

The rumbling from her stomach told her that apparently she could. But she didn't want to say it. It felt like an insult to her Mother. Saying that she could eat was the same thing as saying that she would go on without her. That Red would live anyway. And she didn't want that.  
>"No."<br>For a moment the eyes of a hawk stared at her out of the face of a wolf. Then the older woman scoffed and got up.  
>"I'm going to get you milk and bread. Don't go anywhere, and don't start screaming again."<br>Red watched as the elderly woman left the room. She was wearing a somber uniform that let her tail wag back and forth. It was very clear that she wasn't uncomfortable in the clothes, that they weren't forced upon her. She liked them. 

The air around her seemed to be heavy and Red grasped the blanket on top of her body. Looking after the elderly woman she felt her arms shaking with the effort of keeping the wild scream within her own body. It wanted out. It wanted to tear, to kill, her throat was far too intact. There needed to be blood, shreds of it coming out between her lips, she needed to HURT. 

But the scream didn't want to come out. It just stayed there. The cork that was keeping the scream inside her was the scream itself and as she thought that she was going to be suffocated the door that Phedora had not come from burst opened and an enormous wolf came in. His fur was light blond and he was at least two heads taller than Duncan, possibly twice his size. He had an under bite that made him look sort of like a bulldog. But there was a way about his eyes…  
>"Dora?! Dora!? I just woke up and I had a dream about something and-" <p>

The enormous wolf saw Red and spun around. As he did so he hit his head on one of the logs that kept up the ceiling and staggered back a little. Red blinked. It wasn't really funny. Had the day that had passed not gone as it had she would had laughed. Now there was only a tiny, fruitlessly wriggling reminder of a giggle within her. But it was something.  
>Locating her again the wolf looked down on her, and began smiling. He had a sort of short snout, and large, bright blue eyes.<br>"Hello."  
>His voice rumbled like boulders falling down a hill and Red drew the cover over herself, being naked and all that.<br>"Hello."  
>"I'm Clompus."<p>

Something was stinging his eyes. Duncan tried to move his head, but it didn't work. Whatever it was that was hurting him was intent on following him, as if it new that he already had a headache. Great, one of those mornings, where you wake up and the day is already ruined before you even open your damn eyes. Like stepping in porridge that your mother put out to be nice, but then you put your foot in it an it's not nice at all, it's just porridge on your foot and it clings to your fur, and you try to get it off and then it's all over your hut. Or something like that. God he was tired. 

Slowly, he opened his eyes to see what it was that stung him with such fierce anger. It turned out to be the sun. It slipped in through the window of Astrolite's hut. The glass wasn't perfect of course, they didn't have the tools. There were tiny bubbles and it was crooked. But it still let the sunshine in.  
>Usually he liked it. For hours he could sit there and just look out into the woods through the window, or through the one leading towards the village. It was the latter one that was hurting him right now.<br>Astrolite lay beside hm. He was on his back, one arm under his head, the other around Duncan. Duncan had slept with his own head on Astros chest until the sun started punching him in the eyes. Jerk.  
>As he got up slightly the events of yesterday came over him like a wave and he gave out a groan. That girl was probably scared, and lonely. He should be there. He should tell her it was going to be alright.<br>Astro moved a little, and stroke his hand over Duncans neck. He could feel his fur standing up a little, his tail shivering with pleasure. A haze drew over his eyes. Maybe it could wait. Maybe the girl could… Wait.  
>Astro turned towards him and started sleepily licking his cheek. Duncan closed his eyes and the sun on his eyelids was nothing but melted sweet gold.<p>

Red looked up at the large wolf, who seemed sort of… Awkward. Standing in a space that was way too small for him he had to bend his knees a little, and Red pressed the blanket over her body as she looked at him.  
>"Clompus. Lovely name. I'm Red. Well… It's… Actually Little Red Riding Hood."<br>Clompus blinked. Red felt her stomach sink. She could already see it coming. Duncan had made fun of her name and this man would probably too. She could see his mind turning, him frowning. His mouth opened and she drew breath to steel herself from the impact.  
>"But… You don't look red? Your hair is… Like gold. Pretty, but not red. And you're not wearing clothes you're naked." <p>

Red stopped, and looked at him. First she just blinked, over and over. And then it wriggled within her again. Wriggled softly at first, then a little more, and a little more, until she laughed. An actual laugh escaped her. It felt weird, and sounded cold, so she stopped. But the corners of her mouth still twitched a little.  
>"No. It's not. It's just a name. I didn't get it because I look red."<br>Clompus fur seemed to stand up, and he shrunk. Well, not really. He still reached the ceiling. But there was something about him that seemed to want to turn into itself. His tail pressed itself against his leg as he looked away from her. Was he embarrassed?  
>"I'm sorry, I just thought.."<br>"No, it's fine. It really is fine." 

Clompus looked at her with his bright blue eyes, and his nose twitched as he smiled.  
>In that moment the door behind him opened. Phedora came walking back into the room, and stopped to look in surprise at Clompus. She looked from him, to the girl in the bed, and then back to him.<br>"Good morning Clompus. I didn't realize it was time for our meeting."  
>Once again the fur on Clompus body stood up a little, but he smiled. The way his eyes lay on Phedora, the way he could hardly keep his tail from wagging, Red tried not to smile broadly, it seemed rude. But Clompus really really cared for this woman.<br>"I'm sorry Dora, but I had a dream and I wanted to tell you, and-"  
>Phedora nodded for him to be quiet, walked past him, and sat down beside Red. Smiling at her she put a tray of milk and bread on the nightstand next to the bed, and put her hand on Red's arm.<br>"Is it okay for him to be here? Do you want him to leave?"  
>Clompus looked hurt, but Red understood with a wave of gratitude. It wasn't because she wouldn't like Clompus, it was because Phedora didn't know what had happened to her, and what she might be afraid of.<br>Red looked at Clompus, and saw nothing of the Woodsman in him. Nothing of the harshness, the violence. No. She wanted him to stay.  
>"It's fine."<br>Phedora nodded, and gave her a glass of milk. It was warm, and had spots of green herbs swimming around. Red looked at it and then up at the wolf woman. Was it safe to drink…?

"It's alright dear. It's fresh, so it's warm, and I put some healing herbs in there so that you will feel better. Is that alright?" 

Looking down into the glass, there were no words. Her mouth was parched, she wanted to drink something, wanted to know if the little pieces of green that were in the milk could fix her. But it was hard. Hard to put the glass to her lips and suddenly her hands were shaking.  
>Phedora put her hands around her hand holding the glass. So human, yet covered with fur. Paws, and hands at the same time. Then she helped her. Rising the glass to Red's lips she helped her drink.<br>The milk was thick, and she could definitely feel the taste of the herbs. But that was alright. It filled her empty stomach with something that wasn't horrible darkness and blood, and when half the glass was gone she felt like the world could have colour again. The monster in her belly had gone away.  
>Phedora nodded, pleased, and looked up at Clompus.<br>"Let's go into my study."  
>Standing up she put the glass of milk on the dresser and gave Red a sober nod.<br>"Call me if you need anything."  
>Then she turned around, and taking Clompus with her, she went inside the study. Clompus turned around, and gave Red a wave, before the door closed.<br>Red stared out into thin air once more, but the need to scream was gone. The need to sob with fear had disappeared with the glass of milk. Instead she just sat there, staring at the wall in front of her. Everything was wrong. Everything was upside down, inside out and even if she tried until her hands bled she wouldn't be able to fix it. Red blinked. Slowly, her eyelids slid up and down as her head started to bob slightly. Tired. Again. Into the bed she went, and hoped that next time she woke up, the room would feel less wrong.

But her hopes weren't high. 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Sleep. Children seemed to be annoyed by it, grasping something important from a very early age. That going to bed meant being unconscious for hours, that you where being robbed of what happened in the world around you. Perhaps that was why they struggled to stay awake, even with their tiny heads bobbing, falling forward as their eyelids grew heavy, begging their parents for just a little more time. Just a little more time to be awake, before they were to be lost in oblivion for hours.

For this very reason, sleep came to Duncan and Red not as an unwelcome blanket, but as a savior. Hours of not needing to think. Not needing to know what was going on outside. What had happened before. Duncan slept in Astrolite's arms, turned into his embrace and snoring softly. Every breath he drew ruffled the bigger wolf's fur. Astrolite himself was looking at the ceiling, holding his best friend close, and listening to the sound of the early evening wind. Duncan had been sleeping for hours. But he let him continue. It was easier like this. Easier to let him sleep and not talk for a while.  
>Red had slept ever since she had drunk the glass of milk. The Herbs had filled her stomach with a warm hotness that undid all the knots within her, and the relaxation had gone on until now.<p>

Opening in nothing more than slits Red's eyes tried to take in her surroundings. The ceiling was once more the first thing she saw. The logs weren't a surprise this time around, but that did not make them anymore welcome.  
>No shock this time. No scream ready to throw itself out of her chest, no sharp searing pain that was going to tear her apart from within, much like the bullet that had zoomed past her by the cottage and instead hit her mother.<br>The slits closed again. But sleep was not going to come to her now. Her body had had its fill, and she may want it, but that would make things far too easy.  
>This time around Red opened her eyes fully. Beneath her the mattress creaked and moved. Tufts of straw within its rough textile holster moved around as she drew herself into a sitting position.<br>It would be so good to be empty. It would be so nice to be feeling absolutely nothing. But she did. It was just all black. For someone not feeling it, for someone not _knowing_ it it could perhaps be described as empty. But even that darkness was something. It moved within her, making her organs sting, charring her lungs from within.  
>The door at the end of the room creaked open. With determination the silver wolf walked out, heading straight for her bed. She was dressed the same way as before, in some sort of white nurses uniform it seemed, with an apron in front with large pockets, some filled, some not.<br>"Good evening girl. If you have forgotten me, I am Phedora. You are in the sick hut in the Wolf's village."  
>Red looked up at her. Her pale hands where grasping each other in her lap, as if using herself as an anchor. Phedora looked down at her and sat down next to her bedside, on a chair that had been put there while she slept.<br>"Are you well?"  
>The question seemed so strange and irrelevant that Red did nothing but stare at the wolf. Phedora looked at her with a cool expression and seated herself a bit more comfortable on the chair. The hawk eyes peering at her made Red sink a little in the bed.<br>"Let me rephrase that. Is it as bad as yesterday?"  
>This could be answered. Nodding and swallowing at the same time, Red grasped her hands tighter together. Because it was as bad as yesterday. Perhaps it was worse. It was just different.<br>"Alright. You need to eat something. You have been asleep for a long time and your body will need it."  
>Red's mouth gave a little twitch. Phedora let out a huff of air.<br>"I understand eating must not sound very… Appealing right now, but it is a necessity and I must insist."  
>There was something in the voice of the elder wolf that made Red feel as if this woman had never been contradicted in her entire life, and that she would be very sorry to be the first to try it. Sitting up a little, still using the covers to make sure they covered her bruised body right, Red looked around the room. It hadn't changed from the night before. Well, the little she had seen of it before she disappeared into unknowing darkness hadn't changed at least. Returning to the silver furred wolf she searched her. She had talked about her needing food but not put any of it out.<br>The wolf scoffed a little, and turned around, directing herself towards the door, letting out a bark-like order.  
>"Clompus! Get in here!"<br>The door opened. Out of it came the large straw-coloured wolf once more. In the large paws was a tray. Upon it seemed to be a glass filled with the same milk as she had been given before, and a bowl of something steaming. The large blue eyes peered at her over the short but sort of bulky snout, and a hint of a smile twitched in his face. Carrying the tray over he moved slowly, proudly, as if the tray between his hands was the most important item that had ever been put there. As if dropping it would result in horrible calamities.  
>Red could not help but smile. As the large wolf came closer a whiff of bowl's content reached her nostrils. It was a stew of some sort, she could make out no distinct component, but on the whole it smelled very nice. Her stomach gave out a large rumble.<br>The shadow of a smile could be seen over the silver-wolf's face, but by the way it vanished so quickly, it might just have been a mirage. Clompus set the tray down in front of her and smiled.  
>"Good morning. You seem better. Blue and yellow and all that, but better."<br>"Clompus."

The word was softly spoken, almost sweet, but Clompus ears lay slick against his head as if the elderly wolf had snapped at him with her teeth. Getting up she corrected her apron, and looked at Red.  
>"I will leave you to your breakfast. Let me know if he bothers you too much."<br>Nodding perplexed, Red looked down at herself and bit into her lower lip. Clothes. Naked. The hunter so close, his face, his hands. She did not like being naked.  
>"Of course. You'll have to excuse me, clothing is not… Mandatory in our community. I can see how you would be uncomfortable. I will be back in a moment."<br>Phedora started walking away but turned back and gave Clompus a look that could have cut through lead, the way it seared.  
>"Clompus you will turn your back to the girl until she tells you she is fit to talk to you, do you understand me young boy?"<br>Clompus ears once more slicked against his skull and he turned around on the spot, so fast and with such fierce dedication that the large young man started swaying a little on the spot.  
>Red looked at his large back and felt an odd little smile twitch in the corner of her mouth. He was odd.<p>

Red felt like that was a good thing.

"Come on mate… You have to get up."  
>Astrolite had finally given up. It was night now, Duncan had slept all day, he couldn't just… Around mid day he had woken up, eaten some honey-dipped bread that Astro had had laying around, and then returned to the bed. Astrolite was used to his mouth running so bad and being so full of bullshit that he wished he could shove a mushroom down his throat or something, just to make him shut up for a little while. He could not handle Duncan being quiet like this. It was odd, it was scary. Astrolite wasn't good with scary, he had never been. Even the dark made him uncomfortable when he didn't know what was in it.<br>"Duncan.. Duncan… Come one…"  
>Duncan moved against him, and slowly opened his eyes. The world came crashing down on top of him once more, and he closed his eyes once more, trying to shut it out. Because if darkness filled his vision, that would perhaps sink in inside his brain and hide the image of the girl digging through her mothers entrails.<br>"No, please. It's almost nice. Look at me."  
>The pleading of his best friend cut through even the most gruesome of images, and Duncan could not resist. He had never been able to. Opening his eyes finally he got up to one elbow. Astrolite's eyes met him with such sweet worry that he felt his heart skip a couple of beats.<br>"I've… Been sleeping a lot haven't I?"  
>Astrolite cocked his head, peering over his friends shoulder, and gave a small barking laughter. The night sky had left it's bright gold, and had started to fade into a pale blue with small pricks of silvery stars. Looking back on him Astrolite leaned in, and gave his ear a friendly bite.<br>"You know what. People where wrong about you. They keep telling me that you are stupid, but I tell them, yes I do, that my friend Duncan, he is a absolute GENIUS, there is not a stupid bone in his entire body and I have been fairly acquainted with one of his stupidest bones-"  
>Embarrassment took its toll and Duncan sat up with a trace of laughter in his voice.<br>"You are the funniest bloke I know, you know that right?"  
>Astrolite lay in the bed, moving it with his barking laughter now, and nodded fiercly.<br>"I do know! How you ever get by without me is beyond me!"  
>Duncan shook his head and got up, stretching his body. A few more bones gave out a small little crack then he would have liked, and he looked at the door. The girl came back to him, and his spirits sank.<br>"I should go to her… Shouldn't I?"  
>There it was. Astro tensed up a little bit in the bed. He had been wondering when this would come up. It would, eventually; he had known that for quite some time. Things like this didn't just… Go away. Especially not if you brought them to your village covered in blood and screaming. He had heard her, in the early morning hours he had heard her, screaming as if someone had been gutting her. If he was honest, he wasn't quite sure there was a girl to go to.<br>"Perhaps… But why? I mean… It's not like you owe her anything."  
>Silence filled the little hut. Silence, more quiet than it had been during Duncan's sleep and Astrolite felt his insides churn freakishly. It was if he was hungry, yet so full he could burst at the same time, in that sickly way when you are sure you are going to lose your dinner.<br>"Is that the only reason I should go? Because I might… Owe her something? She lost her family last night Astro! Every last shred of it, her Grandmother, her mother, she was bloody assaulted by one of the hunters, and you _think_-"  
>"I don't <em>think<em> anything!"  
>Hotly Astrolite flew up from the bed. The feeling was getting worse, all the time worse. This wasn't right. Nothing was right!<br>"Clearly."  
>Duncan's cold response made him think that this was it. He was actually going to be sick. Looking away, for Duncan's gaze was almost as bad as his words, he let out a slow breath and swallowed.<br>"You where just so… Strange. Yesterday. It frightened me a little, okay? I thought that maybe it would get worse for you, if you went there. I don't want that to happen. I can't take care of you. I can't, it isn't what I do, and you know that. We laugh and we shag and we laugh again but I can't be caring. It isn't in my nature, and if I can't do that maybe you'll… Stop… Being with me."  
>Duncan looked at him. Really looked at him. Saw Astrolite in a way that he had not seen him before, not before this. And it was frightening how much his insecurities made his heart soften.<br>"I won't. I'll.. I'll stay for tonight, maybe talk to her tomorrow. Alright? I don't need to go now anyway. You must be well tired, how about you sleep and I hold you for once?"  
>Astrolite grinned.<br>"Nah, I slept a lot too. But we can play a game?"  
>"You mean you can play the shit out of my ass, laugh about it and then do it again?"<br>"Yes. And then we can play a game."  
>"… You disgust me."<br>The young wolf's started picking a game from one of Astrolite's shelfs.  
>He no longer felt like throwing up.<p>

"You can turn around now."  
>The large wolf once more turned back, but not in the way he had turned away. Instead he sort of rolled back on one heel, as if he was ready to find her half dressed and having misspoken. But Red was dressed. A simple brown dress made out of cotton shielded her from the gaze of the world now. Her hair was tied up being her ears with a ribbon and she felt a little more like herself. Sitting up completely now she looked up at the large wolf, and gave him a small smile.<br>"Do you look alright now?"  
>Clompus shook his head. Red looked down on herself, and felt her heart sink. Was it really that bad? Brown wasn't her colour maybe...<br>"I thought you looked alright before. And why does it matter how you look?"  
>Clompus looked at her. He wasn't excusing himself, just asking, his eyes peering at her over his large snout. Red's hand lay still in her lap and she didn't know. She actually had no idea why it mattered how she looked. There were more important things in the world, were there not?<br>"You should eat. Dora said so and she usually knows."  
>As if it was made of glass and spun sugar he put the tray down in front of her. Actually, with his big paws, it might as well be. With the way he slowly let go and then sat back down on the chair next to her bed, she guessed that he had broken a lot of things with those large paws.<p>

The milk was the same one with the herbs from before. The stew was something different. It smelled amazing.  
>"Dora said the milk will help you sleep. You slept for an awfully long time before. She said that too. But you should eat the food first. It's not good to sleep and not eat anything. Then you might sleep forever."<br>Red looked down at the stew in the bowl. Sleep forever. Looking back up on Clompus she found him smiling at her. Perhaps Phedora hadn't told him what had happened to her. Perhaps she had not felt the need. But he didn't seemed ashamed for talking about death around her. It hurt. And yet it was nice. It was normal.  
>Red turned her eyes toward the bowl and nodded slowly. Picking up her spoon she started eating slowly. The glass of milk beckoned her beside it, promised sleep, promised the sweet darkness of forgetting. But Clompus was right. Even though she wanted to sleep, perhaps for a very long time, she did want to wake up again.<br>At first there was only silence, and the scraping of her spoon against the bowl, the slow chewing of her jaw. Then the bowl was empty and Red directed her gaze at Clompus, who smiled slightly, well, as slightly as a wolf can smile.  
>Red cleared her throat, and then spoke softly.<p>

"So. What can you tell me about this place?" 


End file.
